Game #12
Eastern Illinois at Bradley
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008 ? 7 p.m.
Peoria, Ill.
Shea Stadium (1,700)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE OPENER
? The Bradley soccer team will open Missouri Valley Conference play on Wednesday, returning home to Shea Stadium to host the Eastern Illinois Panthers at 7 p.m.
? 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.
? The Braves will put their active nine-game Valley regular season unbeaten streak (7-0-2) on the line, having not lost a regular season league game since Oct. 7, 2006.
? Among teams playing in a conference that receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Bradley and Eastern Illinois are the only remaining teams in Division I to have not played a league game.
? Bradley alum Brian Bedo and current Bradley student Chris Pennant will broadcast the game live on WIRL-AM 1290 and also on BradleyBraves.com.
The Series
? The meeting between the Braves and Panthers on Wednesday will be the 19th all-time and just the third at Shea Stadium.
? Bradley holds a 10-7-1 advantage against the in-state rival, including a current nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) dating back to 2000.
? Last season, the Braves defeated Eastern Illinois twice -- the first win coming in the form of a 2-1 final at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 3, 2007, and the second win coming just 13 days later in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, a 2-0 Bradley victory.
? Eastern Illinois is 2-6-0 all-time on Bradley's home field and has not won a game in Peoria since a 3-1 victory at Becker Park on Oct. 18, 1996.
? The two schools played four times between 1988 and 1995, all non-conference games won by the Panthers.
BRAVES STUMBLE AT LOYOLA
? Bradley enters Wednesday's game against Eastern Illinois with a .500 record (5-5-1) after losing 3-0 at Loyola last Saturday night in Chicago.
? Loyola's Mark Halma scored two goals, igniting a three-goal outburst by Loyola in a span of 8-minutes, 33-seconds to defeat the Braves.
? The loss dropped Bradley to 9-10-2 in games played in the city of Chicago.
? Saturday's loss evened Bradley's record for the third time this season.
? The Braves are 3-0-0 in games played with an even record, earning wins over Memphis, North Florida and Howard.
VALLEY OPENERS
? Wednesday's game will be the beginning of Bradley's 18th conference schedule as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
? The Braves are 6-9-2 in MVC openers, but have a current seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) in Valley openers since 2001.
? After winning at least a share of three consecutive regular season MVC titles, the Braves can become the second team in league history (Creighton 1992-96) to win four straight titles.
? In last season's conference opener, the Braves jumped to an early 2-0 lead at eighth-ranked Creighton before holding on for a 2-2 tie in front of 2,271 fans at Omaha's Morrison Stadium.
? The Braves have opened conference play at Shea Stadium one time previously, earning a 4-0 win over Vanderbilt on Oct. 3, 2003 in the facility's first season as home of the Braves.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
? Eastern Illinois enters Wednesday's game with a 5-4-3 overall record.
? The Panthers and Oral Roberts played to a scoreless tie on Monday in Charleston, the first scoreless draw for Eastern Illinois since 2006 at Drake.
? After tying Western Illinois, 2-2, in its previous game, the Panthers have played in consecutive ties for the first time since 1998.
? Senior forward Brad Peters lead a potent offensive attack with 21 points (9 G, 3 A) through 12 games.
? Peters is the active Missouri Valley Conference leader in both goals (32) and points (79).
? The Panthers have scored 23 goals this season, trailing only Evansville (25) for most goals scored by a Valley team in 2008.
? Eastern Illinois head coach Adam Howarth is in his ninth season in Charleston, compiling a career record of 69-77-16 (.475).
? Howarth was a four-year player for the Panthers from 1989 to 1992.
? The Panthers return eight starters from the 2007 team that went 12-6-3 (.643), including a 2-3-1 (.417) record in MVC play for a fifth place finish.
HEAD COACH JIM DeROSE
? Jim DeRose (Johnson State ?89) is in his 13th season as a head coach, all at Bradley, and was the 2007 Soccer America National Coach of the Year.
? DeRose and his staff have been named the Missouri Valley Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in each of the last two seasons.
? After serving as an assistant coach at former MVC member Illinois State from 1992 through 1994 and one year as an assistant at Richmond, the then 27-year-old DeRose took over a struggling Bradley program in 1996 and has turned the Braves into a consistent winner.
? DeRose enters Saturday with a 149-90-26 (.610) career record and his 149 wins represent 74.9 percent of Bradley's 199 victories in the 21-year history of the program.
