BRAVES FALL IN CHICAGO
? The Bradley soccer team played on the road for the first time in more than three weeks last Saturday, losing a 3-0 decision at Loyola.
? The Ramblers scored three times in a nine-minute span in the second half to earn their first victory over Bradley since 1995.
? The loss was Bradley's first of the season on an opponent's home field.
mvc play is here
? Bradley will open its 18th season of Missouri Valley Conference play this Wednesday, hosting Eastern Illinois for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Shea Stadium.
? The Braves are looking to join Creighton (1992-96) as the only teams in MVC history to win at least a share of four consecutive regular season league titles.
? Last season, the Braves completed their first-ever unbeaten run through the conference slate with a 4-0-2 mark, extending its active MVC regular season unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-2), dating back to Oct. 11, 2006.
? The Braves are 6-9-2 all-time in MVC openers, but have gone 5-0-2 in league openers dating back to 2001.
MORE VALLEY ITEMS
? Wednesday's match will mark the latest start on the calendar (Oct. 15) for league play since 1997 when the Braves opened MVC play Oct. 17 at Creighton.
? After Creighton entered last week ranked second in the nation by Soccer America, this Saturday's match against the Bluejays will be Bradley's 22nd all-time at home against a nationally-ranked team.
? Of the 21 previous contests, 12 have been against Creighton.
? The Braves are 4-8-0 in those 12 contests at home against a ranked Creighton squad, but most recently posted a 2-1 victory over the 15th-ranked Bluejays on Oct. 28, 2006.
BOUNCING BACK
? The Braves will enter Wednesday's Missouri Valley Conference opener against Eastern Illinois with a .500 record at 5-5-1.
? The Braves have entered a game with a .500 record on two different previous occasions this season.
? In those two games, the Braves have gone 2-0-0 with victories over North Florida and Howard to avoid falling below the .500 mark.
the drive for 200
? After the loss at Loyola, Bradley's all-time record sits at 199-204-37 (.494).
? The Braves need one more victory to hit the 200 win mark.
? The Braves will play two games at Shea Stadium in the next six days, hosting Eastern Illinois Wednesday and Creighton Saturday.
? This season, the all-time Bradley record could eclipse the .500 mark for the first time in program history.
? The first Bradley team in 1987 started 0-4-0 while the Braves didn't post a winning record in a single season until 1992, when the Braves went 11-7-1.
ANOTHER MILESTONE WATCH
? Midway through his 13th season as head coach, Jim DeRose needs just two more victories to reach 150 for his career.
? Through his first 12 seasons as head coach, DeRose has averaged better than 11.9 wins per season and has won at least 14 games in a season on five different occasions.
? DeRose's 148 victories ranks third all-time among Missouri Valley Conference coaches, trailing only Missouri State's Jon Leamy (171) and Creighton's Bob Warming (164).
