BRAVES NET VALLEY SPLIT
? The Bradley soccer team opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a pair of matches at Shea Stadium last week, earning a 3-1 victory over Eastern Illinois last Wednesday before dropping a 2-0 decision to #2 Creighton Saturday.
? Junior Chris Cutshaw netted two goals in the victory to run his team-high total to eight, while freshman Bryan Gaul's third-career tally was the game-winner.
? Wednesday's victory was Bradley's 200th win in program history.
? Second-ranked Creighton held the Bradley offense to zero shots on goal on Saturday, scoring a goal in each half to defeat the Braves, 2-0.
mvc streak ends
? Saturday's 2-0 defeat against Creighton ended Bradley's 10-game MVC regular season unbeaten streak.
? The Braves went 8-0-2 during the streak that dated back to a 1-0 victory over Eastern Illinois on Oct. 11, 2006.
? The Braves outscored Valley opponents 20-8 during the 10-game stretch.
? Despite the end of the streak, the Braves still own an impressive league mark of 19-5-5 dating back to the start of the 2004 league slate and have posted a league record of .500 or better in every season since 2000.
ONE WEEK DOWN IN THE VALLEY
? With one week complete in Missouri Valley Conference play, league-favorite Creighton is 2-0-0, tied for first place with Drake.
? Evansville, picked by league coaches in August to finish second in the conference, is tied with Eastern Illinois for last place at 0-2-0 after dropping matches to Creighton and Missouri State last week.
? Bradley and Missouri State share third place with an identical 1-1-0 record.
VALLEY PLAY GOES ON
? The Braves will continue through the 2008 MVC slate with two more league games this week, visiting Valley co-leader Drake on Wednesday and hosting Missouri State on Saturday.
? The Braves own an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) against the Bulldogs, but only one of the six victories have come in Des Moines.
? Drake's last victory in Des Moines against the Braves came on Oct. 26, 2003, a 4-1 victory for the Bulldogs.
? Missouri State will make its second trip to Shea Stadium on Saturday, previously participating in the Country Inn & Suites Homecoming Classic Oct. 3-4.
? The Bears were the only MVC team the Braves did not defeat last year, as Missouri State used a 76th minute goal to tie Bradley, 1-1, last season in Springfield, Mo.
CUTSHAW PROVIDES OFFENSE
? Through 13 games in the 2008 season, junior Chris Cutshaw ranks among the league leaders in several offensive categories.
? Cutshaw leads The Valley in total shots (50) and shots per game (3.85).
? His 17 points is third in the league, trailing only Brad Peters of Eastern Illinois (22) and Evansville's Mike Luttrull (20).
? In Wednesday's win, Cutshaw scored two goals in a single contest for the second time this season and the fourth time in his Bradley career.
BU MILESTONE WATCH
? Midway through his 13th season as head coach, Jim DeRose need one more victory to reach 150 for his coaching 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 149 victories ranks third all-time among Missouri Valley Conference coaches, trailing only Missouri State's Jon Leamy (172) and Creighton's Bob Warming (166).
