PEORIA, Ill. -- The 2006 Bradley Soccer team may have a lot of new faces, but that does not mean 11th-year head coach Jim DeRose is going to soften the schedule for his new-look team. DeRose today announced an 18-game regular-season schedule that features 14 matches against squads that finished at least .500 last season.
“I have always believed a good schedule is the best way to prepare a team for the Valley and meaningful games at the end of the season,” said DeRose. “Although 13 seniors are gone, I feel a challenging schedule is necessary for a young team, not only for this season but as we continue to build the program into the future.”
DeRose will find out where his team rates in the preseason with a pair of tough exhibition road games: Aug. 14 in a rematch against 2005 NCAA Tournament opponent Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Aug. 18 at Columbus Crew Stadium against Big Ten runner-up and NCAA Tournament entry Ohio State.
The Braves will open the regular-season Aug. 25-26 by hosting Saint Francis (Pa.) and Duquesne in the fourth annual Bradley Classic at Shea Stadium. The tournament opener versus Saint Francis (Pa.) marks the earliest start to a season in Bradley Soccer's 19-year history.
Following four away games versus Cincinnati (Aug. 29), Illinois-Chicago (Sept. 3), Northwestern (Sept. 8) and Northern Illinois (Sept. 10), Bradley will return home for the first of two four-game homestands, beginning Sept. 15 versus NCAA Division I newcomer Central Arkansas. Under the direction of DeRose's first Bradley assistant, Chad Flanders, the Bears have been a NCAA Division II power of late and will try to carry the momentum of a 14-4-2 record from last season into their first year as a NCAA Division I program. The remainder of the homestand includes a Sept. 17 contest versus UMKC, followed by visits from Robert Morris (Pa.) Sept. 22 and Alabama A&M Sept. 23 in the 10th Holiday Inn City Centre Classic.
The Missouri Valley Conference schedule kicks off with visits to Evansville (Sept. 30) and Drake (Oct. 4), before opening a second four-game home stand Oct. 7 against annual league contender Missouri State. The Braves clinched their second Valley regular-season title last season by pulling out a 1-0 victory in the regular-season finale at Missouri State.
The homestand continues Oct. 11 versus Eastern Illinois, Oct. 14 against Mid-Continent Conference runner-up Oral Roberts and Oct. 17 versus Mid-Con Tournament champion Western Illinois. The Braves will visit Western Kentucky in a Valley game Oct. 21 before closing out the regular-season Oct. 28 against perennial league power Creighton in the annual Homecoming game.
In addition to the 18-game regular-season schedule, Bradley once again will host the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Shea Stadium and the Braves are guaranteed a spot in the six-team field as the host school. Quarterfinal action begins Nov. 1, the semifinals are set for Nov. 3 and the championship game will be played Nov. 5.
Season tickets, $40 for adults and $18 for children (K-12), for the 11-game regular-season home schedule are available at the Robertson Fieldhouse Ticket Office. Individual game tickets are $5 for adults, $2 fo children and free for Bradley University students, faculty and staff.
The Braves graduated 13 seniors from the 2005 team that equaled the school record for victories in a season (15-6-1), won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, advanced to the State Farm MVC Tournament championship game and earned an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years.
Despite the heavy losses to graduation, DeRose has plenty of talent to turn to as he prepares for his 11th year at the program's helm. Bradley does return its top two point producers, senior forward Zach Bell (seven goals, 18 points) and junior forward Teddy Anderson (six goals, 16 points), but neither will begin the season as the team's active career scoring leader. That honor belongs to junior midfielder Ken Hickman, who accumulated eight goals and 23 points during his first two years (2002-03) before a two-year church mission.
