PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season according to an announcement Monday afternoon by the league office. In addition, the Bradley Soccer team broke into the national rankings for the first time in 2005, as they are ranked 25th in the College Soccer News Top 30.
Dunsheath, who earned Valley Defensive Player of the Week honors for the third time this season and sixth time in his career, made nine saves in two victories last week, while helping the Braves to their first Valley regular-season championship since 1998. He began the week by stopping five shots in Tuesday's 4-1 win against Illinois-Chicago. The lone goal for the Flames was scored on a penalty kick.
He made four more saves Saturday at Missouri State in a 1-0 victory that clinched the outright Valley regular-season title. Saturday's shutout also was Dunsheath's 10th of the season and improved his career total to 26.5. The 10 shutouts this year breaks his own single-season school record of 9.0 set in 2002, and the 26.5 career shutouts broke the Valley career record, previously held by Missouri State's Mark Modersohn, who recorded 26.0 shutouts from 1997 through 2000.
In addition to the Player of the Week honors, Bradley also moved into the Top 25 in the College Soccer News Top 30 National Poll. The 25th-ranked Braves (14-4-1 overall) won the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title with a 5-1-1 Valley record and enter this weeks State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Peoria, Ill., with a six-match winning streak.
The Braves will serve as host for the Valley Championship which begins Wednesday with a pair of matches. Tournament play begins with #3 seed Vanderbilt facing #6 Eastern Illinois at 5 p.m. and will be followed by #4 Drake vs. #5 Missouri State. Bradley will face the winner of Wednesday's Drake-Missouri State match Friday at 7:30 p.m., with #2 seed Creighton playing the winner of Vanderbilt and Eastern Illinois at 5 p.m. on Friday at Shea Stadium.
Single-session tickets for the 2005 State Farm MVC Tournament are $6 for adults and $2 for youth (K-12) and seniors, and a tournament pass is available for $10, which will provide admission to all five tournament games. Bradley University students will receive free admission to the MVC Tournament, courtesy of the Chiefs Club, by presenting their valid University IDs at the Shea Stadium ticket windows. Tickets may be purchased at the Shea Stadium Ticket Office beginning one hour prior to the start of each session, or Monday-Friday at the Robertson Fieldhouse Ticket Office.
