PEORIA, Ill. -- Having secured its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning its first State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Sunday afternoon, the Bradley Soccer team will host a NCAA Tournament Selection Show viewing party Monday evening at the Lariat Steakhouse (2232 W. Glen). The party is open to the public and will begin at 4 p.m. Monday, with the tourney selections to be announced on ESPNews between 4:30 and 5 o'clock.
Bradley (14-5-3) earned The Valley's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament Sunday by pulling out a 1-0 victory against #7 Creighton (11-2-5) at Morrison Stadium in Omaha when senior defender Stephen Brust (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey H.S.) scored the game's only goal in the 89th minute.
The third team in league history with three straight regular-season championships, Bradley rolls into the NCAA Tournament with a 7-1-0 record in its last eight games. Sunday's dramatic win against the seventh-ranked Bluejays was Bradley's first against a team ranked in the top 10 since a 2-1 overtime victory at #10 SMU Oct. 10, 2003.
The Braves will be making their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years, following at-large selections in 2000, 2002 and 2005. The Braves are 0-3-0 in their three previous NCAA Tournament appearances, losing first-round home games to Illinois-Chicago (1-0) in 2000, New Mexico (2-1) in 2002 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-0) in 2005.
