Setting The Scene
Alabama A&M: Friday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Howard: Saturday, Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Peoria, Ill.
Stadium: Shea Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 1,700
On the Radio: WIRL-AM 1290 (Friday)
On the Internet: www.bradleybraves.com
COUNTRY INN & SUITES HOMECOMING CLASSIC
Friday, Oct. 3
5 p.m. Missouri State vs. Howard
7:30 p.m. Alabama A&M at Bradley
Saturday, Oct. 4
5 p.m. Missouri State vs. Alabama A&M
7:30 p.m. Howard at Bradley
HOMECOMING AT BRADLEY
? Bradley will host the sixth Country Inn & Suites Homecoming Classic this weekend, welcoming Alabama A&M, Howard and Missouri Valley Conference rival Missouri State to Shea Stadium.
? The Braves will host Alabama A&M Friday at 7:30 p.m., then play Howard Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
? Missouri State will play Howard on Friday and Alabama A&M on Saturday, both 5 p.m. kickoffs.
? The two-day event is the 18th regular season tournament hosted by the Braves.
? Since moving to Shea Stadium in 2003, the Braves are 6-3-1 in the annual Homecoming Classic, claiming the title in 2005 and 2006.
? The Braves own a 25-7-2 all-time record in regular season home tournaments, claiming a share of 10 tournament titles and posting at least one victory in all previous 17 events.
The Series
? When the Braves meet Alabama A&M Friday night, it will mark the second meeting all-time between the two programs.
? The Bulldogs defeated the Braves, 2-0, on Sept. 23, 2006 to win the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic and snap Bradley's 13-game regular season home unbeaten streak at Shea Stadium.
? Current Alabama A&M leading scorer and then-sophomore MfanaFuthi Bhembe netted the game-winning goal in the 68th minute and later added an assist in the 2006 victory.
? Saturday night, the Braves will play Howard for the first time in program history.
? The Braves have never met a school from the Atlantic Soccer Conference.
? Howard is the fourth and final first-time Bradley opponent on the 2008 Bradley schedule.
? The Braves are 2-1-0 against first-time opponents this season.
HOME AGAIN
? Bradley will complete its season-long three-game home stand this weekend.
? After playing just two home games in the season's first four weeks, the Braves will play six of its next eight games at Shea Stadium.
? The Braves fell to 0-2-1 at home this season with a 2-1 loss to Cal State Fullerton last Saturday night.
? Junior Chris Cutshaw netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season in the ninth minute of the game on assists from Rudy Garcia and Brad Snook.
? Sophomore goalkeeper Drew Van Kampen made a career-high eight saves, the most by a Bradley goalkeeper since Mike Haynes made eight saves last season at Indiana.
HOMECOMING HISTORY
? Last season, Bradley posted a 1-1-0 record to finish in third place in the four-team Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic Sept. 28-29.
? The Braves used 23 players in a 3-0 win over IUPUI to open the tournament, but Illinois-Chicago netted an overtime goal to top the Braves the following night, 1-0.
? Current Bradley defender Travis English, then a sophomore, was named to the 2007 all-tournament team.
? Missouri State won the 2007 tournament with a 2-0-0 mark, defeating Illinois-Chicago and IUPUI.
? The Bears also participated in the Homecoming Classic in 2005, recording a 1-0-1 mark for second place.
CUTSHAW AMONG LEADERS
? With Missouri Valley Conference play less than two weeks away, junior forward Chris Cutshaw continues to rank among the active Valley offensive leaders.
? Cutshaw entered the week with 18 career goals, ranking second among active Valley players, behind only Brad Peters (30 goals) of Eastern Illinois.
? Cutshaw is third in career points with 42, trailing only Peters (70) and Creighton's Byron Dacy (49).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
? Alabama A&M, a Division I independent, enters Friday's contest with a 5-3-2 record through its first 10 games.
? Head coach Salah Yousif, in his 20th season at Alabama A&M, is 289-107-22 at the Huntsville, Ala.-based school.
? The Bulldogs are riding a five-game unbeaten streak and have not lost since a 4-1 setback against Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 7.
? Senior forward MfanaFuthi Bhembe leads the Bulldogs with nine goals and 20 points, tied for most in both categories in Division I this season.
? The Bulldogs are in the middle of a 10-game span in which they won't play a home game, a stretch that will last 53 days.
? The Country Inn & Suites Homecoming Classic is the fifth in-season tournament the Bulldogs will participate in this season, as eight of the Bulldogs' first 10 games have been played as a part of a regular season tournament.
? The lone common opponent thus far for Alabama A&M and Bradley is Cal State Fullerton.
? The Bulldogs dropped a 2-0 decision to Fullerton to open the season, while the Braves lost 2-1 to the Titans last Saturday night.
SCOUTING THE BISON
? Atlantic Soccer Conference member Howard will play the Braves Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
? The Bison are 0-9-1 this season, being outscored by opponents 45-5.
? Howard met fellow tournament participant Alabama A&M on Sept. 14, a game the Bulldogs won 4-1.
? The Bison are coached by former Howard player Michael Lawrence, who was an assistant coach for the Bison from 2004 through 2007.
? Junior forward Rotimi Iziduh has netted three of Howard's five goals this season to lead the Bison in scoring.
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 Friday's tournament opener with a 147-88-26 (.615) career record and his 147 wins represent 74.2 percent of Bradley's 198 victories in the 21-year history of the program.
