PEORIA, Ill. -- Tulsa All-American candidate Ryan Pore scored a pair of goals and Brian Bixby netted what proved to be the game-winner as the Golden Hurricane (9-5-2, 5-3-1) earned an important Missouri Valley Conference road victory versus Bradley (9-6-2, 5-2-1) in the regular-season finale for both teams Sunday afternoon at Shea Stadium.

The significance of Sunday's result, however, most likely will not be determined until Monday as the Missouri Valley Conference standings are as muddy as the Shea Stadium field due to Friday's cancellation of the Bradley-SMU game. Based on the league's point system, which awards three points for a win and one point for a tie, both Bradley and Tulsa are tied for third place in the Valley standings with 16 points and the duo could be joined by in a three-way tie by Drake. Using the point system and regardless of a two-way or three-way tie, the head-to-head tiebreakers make Bradley the No. 4 seed.

If the league decides to abandon the point system because Bradley and SMU did not have a chance to play the full nine-game conference schedule, Bradley's .688 league winning percentage makes Bradley the second-place team in the league (Creighton fell to 6-3-0 with Sunday's 1-0 loss at Southwest Missouri State).

Regardless of which system is used, Bradley cannot fall below the fourth seed, thus guaranteeing a home game in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament. The Braves will host that game Saturday at 7 p.m. at Shea Stadium, but its opponent will not be determined until the seeding issue is sorted out.

Pore made sure Tulsa remained in the fight for home field advantage in the postseason by netting his 16th and 17th goals of the year. Although Bradley outshot its visitors 11-6 in the first half, Pore scored the only goal of the first period by heading home a Lawson Vaughn service from the right flank in the 22nd minute.

Bixby earned the eventual game-winner in the 52nd minute by poking home his first goal of the year. Daniel Wasson lobbed a free kick to the left post, where the ball laid uncontested in the mud. Bixby won the fight for the ball with a Bradley defender and keeper Chris Dunsheath for the 2-0 lead. Pore tacked on an insurance goal in the 85th minute when he beat Dunsheath in a one-on-one situation with a laser from the right wing.

Bradley avoided the shutout in the 89th minute when senior forward Preston Good (Newark, Calif./Moreau Catholic H.S.) lined a free kick across the goal mouth to the right post, where freshman Drew DeGurian (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) easily headed home his first career goal. The assist extended Good's point-scoring streak to six games, the second-longest streak in Bradley Soccer history.

The Braves finished the game with a 22-14 advantage in shots, but a slim 8-7 margin in shots on goal. The Braves also had five more corner kicks (11), than Tulsa.