Home Kick Starts Saturday

Bradley Soccer will play four of its next five games at home, beginning Saturday night against UCA

Jacob Taylor in traffic vs SIUE Oct. 8, 2016

Bob Hunt - Photographer

Jacob Taylor (4)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 10/14/2016 8:04:00 AM

PEORIA, IL - Bradley Soccer plays four of its next five games at home, beginning with a pivotal clash against Missouri Valley Conference rival Central Arkansas Saturday night at Shea Stadium. The Braves are searching for their first win since Sept. 20 and a victory would vault Bradley over UCA, and potentially Drake (at Missouri State), in the MVC standings.

GAME DETAILS
Central Arkansas Bears (3-7-1, 1-3-0 MVC) at Bradley Braves (2-8-3, 0-3-1 MVC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Peoria, IL | Shea Stadium

COACHES
Bradley
Jim DeRose (Johnson State '89)
Career Record: 223-165-43 (21st season)
at Bradley: Same
vs. UCA: 7-2-2

Central Arkansas
Ross Duncan (Oregon State '04)
Career Record: 20-55-6 (5th season)
at UCA: Same
vs. Bradley: 1-2-2

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Bradley leads 7-2-2 | at Bradley: Bradley leads 5-1-1
Saturday's game will be the 12th meeting in the all-time series, which dates back to Bradley's 4-1 victory Sept. 15, 2006 ... Since the Bears joined The Valley as an affiliate men's soccer member in 2010, Bradley owns a 4-1-2 series advantage, including a 4-0-2 regular-season record against UCA ... Although the Braves suffered a 1-0 loss to UCA in the first round of the 2012 MVC Men's Soccer Championship at Shea Stadium, Bradley is 5-0-1 in regular-season home games against the Bears ... Central Arkansas transitioned to NCAA Division I status under former Bradley assistant coach Chad Flanders, who also guided the Bears into The Valley, while serving as the Bears' head coach through the 2011 season.

FOUR-OUT-OF-FIVE AT SHEA
Saturday night's game against Central Arkansas will start a 5-game stretch that will see the Braves play their final four home games of the season ... Bradley brings a 2-2-1 home record into Saturday's game ... In addition to the home tilts against Valley rivals UCA and Drake (Oct. 26), Bradley will host Summit League contender Omaha Tuesday night and Big Ten Conference foe Rutgers Oct. 29 in the regular-season home finale.

TOURNEY SEEDINGS AT STAKE
The results from Bradley's two remaining Missouri Valley Conference home games will go a long way toward determining the final seeding for next month's MVC Men's Soccer Championship and who will avoid the disadvantage of facing a 4-game path to the tournament title ... In addition to adding the unbalanced, 8-game regular-season conference schedule, The Valley will welcome all seven teams to the postseason tournament for the first time this year ... The addition of the seventh team created a first-round game for the sixth and seventh seeds Tuesday, Nov. 9, with the winner advancing to a quarterfinal game versus the league's No. 3 seed Wednesday, Nov. 10 ... Bradley enters Saturday's game seventh in the league standings with one point, while Central Arkansas and Drake are tied for fifth with three points ... The Braves will host Drake Oct. 26 at Shea Stadium.

LINEUP NEWCOMERS
Two Bradley freshmen have made their collegiate debuts in the last two games ... Defender Jacob McKee appeared in his first college game last Saturday against SIU Edwardsville and he now has played 145 minutes as a starting defender in the last two games ... Redshirt freshman Donald Link made his debut by playing 16 minutes as a reserve Tuesday night at Drake ... Of the 27 players to see the field for the Braves this season, 18 are underclassmen - 11 freshmen and seven sophomores.

WINNING DROUGHT
As the Braves prepare for Saturday night's game against Central Arkansas, Bradley is looking to snap a season-long, 5-game winless (0-3-2) streak ... The Braves have scored just two goals in the five games since their 2-0 win against Western Illinois Sept. 20 at Shea Stadium ... The winless streak is Bradley's longest within a single season since the Braves lost eight in a row from Sept. 30-Oct. 28, 2009 during a 6-11-1 campaign ... Bradley rebounded from that 2009 season by winning at least 10 games in each of the next four years, accumulating a 50-28-11 (.624) record with two MVC Tournament titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances from 2010-13.

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Players Mentioned

#35 Donald Link: D; 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman

#37 Jacob McKee: D; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#35 Donald Link
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman
: D

#37 Jacob McKee
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: D

Home Kick Starts Saturday

Bradley Soccer will play four of its next five games at home, beginning Saturday night against UCA

Players Mentioned

#35 Donald Link

#37 Jacob McKee

Players Mentioned

#35 Donald Link

#37 Jacob McKee