The Indiana State University women's soccer  team opened conference play against Missouri State University at Memorial Stadium Friday.

The Sycamores fell short of victory as the Bears' late goal in the first half was enough to secure the victory.  The last time these two teams met, they had the same 0-1 result for the Sycamores as the Bears got the goal with six seconds remaining in the match.  Friday's game marked the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.

In the first half, the Bears were pressuring the Sycamores and controlling the flow of the game.  The lone goal of the game came with 49 seconds to go before the half.  On a MSU corner from the right side, the Bears' cross found the head of a Missouri State player, sending the ball into the back of ISU's net.

The Sycamores trailed the Bears in shots 4-7, 1-2 in shots on goal and 1-2 in corner kicks.

At the start of the second half, the Sycamores came out and played aggressively and controlled the half.

"We were so angry [because] we let a goal in with two minutes to go," senior mid-fielder and forward Seyma Erenli said.  "We always talk about five minute periods, and we let a goal in that five minutes.  So we all went in, and we were upset, but we knew we came out better than them because we were better than them."

 As the Sycamores pushed down field to find an equalizer, it would be tough to find the back of the net.  In the 54th minute, senior forward Ashley Collins attempted a shot from the right wing, but the MSU keeper managed to stop it.  The Sycamores continued to apply pressure on the Bears' defense with shot attempts in the 71st, 74th and 77th minutes of the game, but Missouri State's goalkeeper continued to keep the Sycamores at bay.

ISU women's soccer head coach Erika True said that the girls went into the locker room at halftime  knowing they had to double their efforts in the second half to get back into the game. 

"I think they kind of took that to heart," True said. "They came out and played a great second half of soccer, but soccer is decided in 90 minutes not  45 unfortunately because I think we would have won that second half."

The Bears' offense never gained momentum again in the second half with only two shots half compared to seven shots in the first half.  On the other hand, the Sycamores doubled their total number of shots in the second half with eight and garnered six  more corner kicks.

"Next game all we have to do is come out and play like we did in the second half, and we would beat any team in our conference," Erenli said.

At the end of the game, the Sycamores outscored the Bears in number of shots 12-9, 7-3 on shots on goal.  The loss drops the Sycamores to a 3-8-0 record, 0-1-0 in the conference.

The Sycamores next competition is on the road as the team travels to Des Moines, Iowa for another conference matchup against the Drake Bulldogs.  Indiana State women's soccer will return to Memorial Stadium Oct. 14.

"We continue to move in the right direction, and one day we will have a little bit of luck on our side, and we are going to get the results," True said.  "They are coming up, and we are moving in the right direction at the right time, so hopefully we are starting to peak at the time conference tournament comes around but got to get a couple more results to get there, and I think we will."