ST. LOUIS -- The Bradley Soccer team, which has won at least a share of the last two Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championships, has been picked to finish second in the 2007 race, according to a poll of the league's seven head coaches conducted last month and released by The Valley office today.
MVC Release
While the Braves were the top choice to challenge perennial league power Creighton for the 2007 crown, three second-year Bradley players were named to the 13-man preseason all-conference team: sophomore midfielder Grant Campbell (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield H.S.), sophomore forward Chris Cutshaw (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) and senior defender Joe Donoho (Tampa, Fla./Jesuit H.S.). All three players earned second-team All-MVC honors as first-year Braves in 2006. Cutshaw was the 2006 Valley Freshman of the Year after finishing second on the team with five goals and 12 points last season. Playing primarily as Bradley's central defensive midfielder, Campbell was one of just three Braves to start all 20 games last season. A transfer from Rutgers, the 6-foot-3 Donoho was a stopper in the backline for the Braves last season and added a scoring threat on restarts in the offensive end, finishing with three goals and an assist in 2006.
Creighton received five first-place votes to top The Valley preseason poll with 47 points. Bradley and Missouri State each received one first-place vote, although the Bears were sixth in the poll. Bradley was a clear second with 39 points, followed by Eastern Illinois (28), Evansville (27), Drake (24), Missouri State (21) and Western Kentucky (10).
In addition to the announcement of The Valley preseason poll, the league office also announced the Oct. 10 clash between Bradley and Creighton will be televised nationally on the Fox Soccer Channel as part of the 20-game NSCAA Game-of-the-Week package. Bradley won the 2005 MVC regular-season championship outright and tied Creighton for the 2006 crown, while the Bluejays have downed the Braves in each of the last two MVC Tournament championship games.
Bradley has played in five MVC Tournament championship games that have been televised regionally on FSN Midwest, including three against Creighton, but the Oct. 10 game against the Bluejays will be the program's first-ever nationally-televised regular-season game. In addition, the Oct. 27, 2002 contest between Bradley and Creighton at Morton's McClallen Park was televised on a tape-delay basis on a local cable access channel in Chicago.
The Braves will open the 2007 season Aug. 31-Sept. 1 by hosting Belmont, Eastern Illinois and Lipscomb in the 11th Holiday Inn City Centre Classic at Shea Stadium. Bradley will play the 7:30 game both nights, Aug. 31 against Lipscomb and Sept. 1 versus Belmont.
