PEORIA, Ill. ? All-American candidate Luke Kreamalmeyer (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville H.S.) scored his first goal of the season in the 36th minute and Bradley's defense made the goal stand as the Braves (2-1) opened its second tournament of the year with a 1-0 victory versus in-state rival Western Illinois (1-3) Friday night to conclude the first night of the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic at Shea Stadium.

Bradley has now won seven consecutive games versus the Leathernecks, all by a single goal.

In Friday's first game, Bradley's Missouri Valley Conference rival Southwest Missouri State received a second-half goal from Danny May (2-0-1) to pull out a 2-1 victory versus Oregon State (1-3). May also assisted the game's first goal, a Ryan Anderson tally in the 11th minute. Oregon State forced a 1-1 halftime tie when Robbie Findley scored an unassisted goal in the 38th minute.

Bradley owned only a narrow 12-11 advantage in shots versus the Leathernecks, but the Braves had plenty more good scoring chances. Western Illinois managed to put just two shots on goal, both in the 87th minute by Andy Swentik. Braves keeper Chris Dunsheath (Rockford, Ill./Boylan H.S.) came off his line to try and stop a Leatherneck rush, but could not come up with the ball. Instead, junior defensive midfielder Adam Hage (Normal, Ill./University H.S.) came up with the timely team save on Swentnik's first shot.

Dunsheath followed with his only save of the night seconds later to seal his second shutout of the season. Dunsheath now owns 13.5 career shutouts, good for second place in school history.

After generating several good scoring chances earlier in the half, Bradley finally got on the board at 35:13 on a play that started with a throw in from its defensive end of the field. Sophomore James Hedges (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame H.S.) made the throw from in front of the Bradley bench down the near sideline to his former high school teammate, freshman Nick Mentgen (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame H.S.).

Mentgen made a nifty move to free himself, started toward the middle of the field, then sent a centering pass to Kreamalmeyer at the top of the 18. Kreamalmeyer kept the ball moving across the top of the box, then fired a low shot just inside the left post for his 19th career goal and fifth career game-winner.

Friday's crowd of 1,345 fans was the ninth-largest home crowd in Bradley Soccer history and the fourth-largest crowd in the two-year history of Shea Stadium. With Friday's win, ninth-year Bradley head coach Jim DeRose equaled former Creighton coach and current Stanford skipper Bret Simon for third place on the Valley's all-time victory list. DeRose's record now stands at 96-60-13. Only Creighton's Bob Warming (106) and SMS coach Jon Leamy (133) own more victories while coaching in the MVC.

The eighth-annual Holiday Inn City Centre Classic will conclude with two more games Saturday evening. Southwest Missouri State will face Western Illinois in the 5 p.m. game, followed by the Braves versus Oregon State at approximately 7:30.