SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- After winning the GRLC championship and qualifying for the 2017 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour, Missouri State will look to accomplish the same feat in a new conference this spring.

The Bears have released the 2018 schedule they hope will propel them to Salt Lake City.

Below is the full schedule and game previews of each contest.

2018 Missouri State Men's Lacrosse Schedule

* - indicates LSA divisional contest
# - to be held in Salt Lake City

Game Previews
Arkansas | 2017 Record: 9-7
Arkansas is not an unfamiliar opponent for Dustin Rich and the Bears. In 2017, Missouri State opened their season against Arkansas and came out on top 10-8. The Razorbacks finished the season with a 9-7 record, and were rewarded with a No. 4 seed in the LSA DI conference tournament, only to be ousted by Texas, 18-3.

Missouri | 2017 Record: 10-5
The Bears and Tigers have split their series over the past two years, with the home team winning 7-4 each year. This Bears team will look to continue that trend with a win in 2018. This game will be the first of three to be televised at Allison North this season.

Dallas Baptist | 2017 Record: 5-4
Dallas Baptist will be the first team in LSA DII that Missouri State will face. Coach Richardson and the DBU Patriots finished with a 5-4 record, going 4-1 in their division. DBU qualified for the LSA DII conference tournament, but did not make it past the first round, losing to Baylor.

UT-Dallas | 2017 Record: 10-1
UTD was the highest nationally ranked team out of the LSA for most of 2017. The Comets went 10-1 overall, and 5-0 in their division. The only loss of the season was to Cal State-San Marcos. UTD was the LSA DII runner ups, losing in the title game to Louisiana, 11-8.

Baylor | 2017 Record: 9-2
Finishing up a three game in three days trip to Dallas is a contest against Baylor, which went 9-2. Baylor had a successful campaign in ’17, losing by a goal in the LSA semifinals to the eventual conference champs Louisiana.

Washington (MO) | 2017 Record: 4-4
Missouri State set a program record for goals scored in a game, as well as goal differential, in its game against Washington in 2017. Wash U will look to rebound with a new squad in 2018, and with home field advantage, the ‘Bear Cup’ will surely be a close contest.

Saint Louis | 2017 Record: 5-6
Saint Louis was one of the top teams in the GRLC last season, losing to Missouri State in the conference tournament, 16-3. The Bears won the regular season match up in Springfield, 13-0. The Billikens have some work to do if they hope to compete with Missouri State this year.

Minn.-Duluth | 2017 Record: 8-5
Last year, Missouri State traveled north to play UMD at Saint John’s in Collegeville, Minn. This year, the Bulldogs will come to Springfield on their way to Knoxville. This matchup will be the first time a non-conference team ranked in the top 25 plays at Allison North. UMD was the only team to beat national runner up St. Thomas in the regular season, but lost to Tommies in the national tournament quarterfinals.

Creighton | 2017 Record: 6-5
This game is a rematch of the 2017 GRLC championship game, only this time it will be played in Omaha. Missouri State beat Creighton 11-1 in the regular season, and 12-6 in the championship game. Creighton has been on the rise in recent years. In 2016, the Blue Jays went 0-7, and improved to 6-5 in 2017.

Southern Illinois | 2017 Record: 1-8
Southern Illinois has its work cut out for them. Hoping to improve on a 1-8 campaign from 2017, the Salukis travel to Allison North to face a Bears team that outscored them 17-0 last season.

Missouri S&T | 2017 Record: 0-8
Outside of Southern Illinois (who’s only been in the MCLA for one season), Missouri S&T is the only team on Missouri State’s schedule who has never beaten the Bears. In the two games they played in 2017, S&T was outscored, 25-3. The Miners went winless in 2017 and had a minus-75 goal differential overall.

POSTSEASON
LSA North Region Finals
The first round of the conference tournament will pit the top two seeds from the LSA North against each other, and will be played at the home field of the top seed on Saturday, April 14.

LSA Semis & Finals
The winner of each of the four sub-divisions in the LSA will meet in Austin, Texas, for the remaining tournament. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, April 21 followed by the championship game on Sunday, April 22.

2018 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour
Played in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the first time, the 2018 MCLA National Championships will featured the top 16 teams from both Division I and Division II play in a week-long 31-game tournament to decide a pair of champions. Nationals starts on Monday, May 7 and concludes on Saturday, May 12.