PEORIA, Ill. -- Fresh off consecutive home wins last weekend at Shea Stadium, the Bradley Soccer team is preparing to host the 10th Holiday Inn City Centre Classic Friday and Saturday evenings. Robert Morris and Alabama A&M will join Missouri Valley Conference rivals Bradley and Missouri State in the four-team tournament.
Bradley will play in the 7:30 p.m. game both days, Friday versus defending Northeast Conference tournament champion Robert Morris and Saturday against traditional independent stallwart Alabama A&M. Missouri State will kick off tournament action both days by playing in the five o'clock games, Friday versus Alabama A&M and Saturday against Robert Morris.
Friday's nightcap will feature a pair of 2005 NCAA Tournament teams. Bradley won the 2005 Valley regular-season championship and earned the program's third at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Robert Morris, which is located just west of Pittsburgh, posted an 11-8-1 overall record last season and won the Northeast Conference tournament after tying for second in the 10-team regular-season league race. The Colonials will enter Friday's game with an even 3-3-1 record following Sunday's 1-0 overtime win versus Niagara.
The Holiday Inn City Centre Classic will conclude with Saturday's 7:30 p.m. contest between the Braves and Alabama A&M. Once again playing as an independent, the Bulldogs have played each of their first nine games away from home and enter the tournament with a 2-7-0 record. Alabama A&M snapped a six-game losing streak Sunday with a 3-1 win at Air Force, but will enter Friday's tournament opener versus Missouri State on a down note after falling at Kentucky, 2-0, Wednesday night.
The first Holiday Inn City Centre Classic was played in 1995 at the old Becker Park and has been contested every year since 1998. Bradley has won six of the first nine tournament titles, but saw its three-year championship streak snapped last year when Butler downed the Braves, 1-0, in the finale. Bradley owns an all-time record of 14-3-1 (.806) in the previous nine Holiday Inn City Centre Classics.
The Braves have not lost a regular-season home game since their 1-0 loss to Butler Sept. 3, 2005 in the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic finale. Bradley is 11-0-1 in its last 12 regular-season home games, the longest such unbeaten streak in program history.
Single-game tickets for regular-season home games at Shea Stadium are $5 for adults, $2 for youth (K-12) and free for Bradley University students, faculty and staff, as well as active military members and their familes, all with valid indentification. Parking is $2 per car.
