Braves to Host Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic
It is Homecoming Week at Bradley University and one of the feature events will occur Friday and Saturday nights when the Braves host IUPUI, Illinois-Chicago and Missouri State in the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic at Shea Stadium. Missouri Valley Conference rival Missouri State will play the 5 p.m. game both days, followed by the host Braves at approximately 7:30, Friday against Summit League member IUPUI and Saturday against defending Horizon League champion UIC.
Bradley is 3-0-0 in its previous Homecoming games, most recently knocking off #15 Creighton, 2-1, in the 2006 regular-season finale to claim a share of The Valley regular-season championship. In Bradley's first-ever Homecoming soccer game, the Braves dropped then Valley rival Vanderbilt, 4-0, Oct. 3, 2003 and the Braves added a 2-1 overtime victory versus MVC member Western Kentucky Oct. 29, 2005.
Birthday Celebration
? The Bradley Soccer program will celebrate more than Homecoming this weekend as 12th-year head coach Jim DeRose will celebrate his 40th birthday Friday.
? DeRose boasts a 131-80-22 (.609) record, making him the youngest coach in NCAA Division I men's soccer with at least 100 career victories.
Reedy Has CLASS
? Todd Reedy, a fifth-year senior defender for the Braves, is one of 20 candidates for the inaugural soccer version of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
? An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition.
? Reedy is the only Missouri Valley Conference men's or women's soccer player among the 20 candidates from each gender.
? A national media committee will cut the lists to 10 finalists next month and those 10 finalists will be placed on the official ballot for nationwide voting from Oct. 16 through Nov. 21, with the winners to be announced during the the NCAA College Cup.
Defensive Struggle
? Saturday's 2-0 loss against #9 Saint Louis was one of the toughest defensive struggles in the five-year history of Shea Stadium.
? The five total shots on goal -- three by Saint Louis and two by Bradley -- were the fewest in Shea Stadium history and the fewest in a Bradley soccer game since the Braves (1) and Dartmouth (3) combined for just four shots on goal Sept. 24, 2004.
? It marked the first time neither team recorded double-digit shot totals since both the Braves and Northwestern managed just nine shots each Sept. 8, 2006 in Evanston and the game's 13 total shots were the fewest in a Bradley game since the Braves (3) and Creighton (8) combined for just 11 shots Oct. 22, 1999 in Omaha.
Another League Champ on Tap
? Bradley's last four games have been played against defending conference champions and the Braves have managed a 2-2-0 record in those contests: a 3-0 loss to #1 Wake Forest (ACC), a 3-0 win against Western Illinois (Summit), a 1-0 win against Cincinnati (Big East Red) and a 2-0 loss to #9 Saint Louis (Atlantic 10).
? Following Friday's game against IUPUI, the Braves will face another defending league regular-season champion Saturday when Bradley hosts Horizon League champ UIC at Shea Stadium.
? In all, Bradley's 2007 schedule features seven games against reigning regular-season conference champions.
Bradley-IUPUI Series
? Bradley owns a 2-0-0 record in the all-time series against IUPUI, sweeping a two-year, home-and-home series during the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
Bradley-UIC Series
? Bradley owns an 8-6-0 advantage in the all-time series against Illinois-Chicago, but the Flames have won three of the last five meetings.
? Most notably, UIC ended Bradley's NCAA record 24-game overtime unbeaten streak in the last meeting with a 2-1 overtime victory Sept. 3, 2006 at Flames Field.
