JOPLIN, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Soccer team scored its third-straight shutout victory with a 2-0 defeat of the Central Oklahoma Broncos to conclude the regular season inside Hal Bodon Field Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lions  have clinched a spot in the 2017 MIAA tournament and now await as the location, time, and opponent for their first-round game will be announced later tonight.
 
The Lions (5-9-3, 5-5-1) sit in fifth place behind Central Missouri (1), Missouri Western (2), Northeastern State (3), and Fort Hays State (4) in the conference standings. The rise in the standings were launched by a three-game winning streak where they did not allow a single goal.
 
UCO (7-9-2, 4-5-2) dropped to seventh in the standings after squandering four corner kick opportunities and outshooting MSSU by one (12-11).
 
Forward Andrea Gamez struck first for MSSU in the 14th minute by getting as close as she could before nailing the shot past the goalkeeper to give the Lions a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
 
Then in the 79^th minutes of the second period, after a couple failed shot attempts with the goalkeeper down, senior Taylor Beck took control of the ball and scored on the open-netter to provide some insurance as time started to wind down for UCO.
 
MSSU's defensive unit once again held its own by clearing out all second shot chances and gathering the ball to push out of the zone and head on the attack. Goalkeeper Luz Galindo made four saves, while playing all 90 minutes in the goal for the Lions behind the defensive effort.
 
The Lions will be back in action on November 1 as they will start the MIAA Tournament on a campus location. Stay tuned to www.mssulions.com as those details will be announced later tonight.