PEORIA, Ill.
? Missouri State junior Johannes Demarzi broke a scoreless tie when his 74th minute shot from the sideline bounced through traffic in the box and settled into the net, sparking the Bears to a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Bradley, Saturday night at Shea Stadium.
Demarzi's shot from the left sideline came from approximately 40 yards away, bouncing twice in the box before settling into the lower right corner of the net past Bradley goalkeeper Drew Van Kampen (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley H.S.). The shot from Demarzi was his fourth of the game, but only the second shot on goal for the Bears through the first 73-minutes, 13-seconds of the match. Brandon Durk was credited with an assist on the play.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Bears put the game away with a goal from junior midfielder Kyle Windmueller. Missouri State's David Buckenheimer controlled possession inside the box, sending a pass to a wide-open Windmueller, who put a shot past Van Kampen for a 2-0 Missouri State lead. The goal was Windmueller's second of the season. The Missouri State defense maintained the two-goal advantage for the remainder of the contest, securing the second MVC victory of the season for the visitors.
The Braves controlled possession for most of the first half, holding an 11-6 advantage in shots. Two of Bradley's shots reached Missouri State goalkeeper Alex Riggs, but neither found the back of the net. Riggs finished the contest with four saves to record his fifth shutout of the season. Van Kampen made one save for the Braves.
Five Bradley players recorded multiple shots during the contest, including three each from junior Graham Stockdale (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt H.S.), junior Chris Cutshaw (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) and freshman Christian Meza (Carpentersville, Ill./Dundee-Crown H.S.). The Braves used just 13 players in the match, the fewest 13th-year head coach Jim DeRose has used this season. Six Bradley players joined Van Kampen in playing the full 90 minutes.
The defeat drops the Braves to 6-8-1 overall and 1-3-0 in Valley play. The Braves will return to action Tuesday, Oct. 28 against Butler at Shea Stadium. The 7 p.m. kickoff is the final home game of the regular season for the Braves. Bradley will finish the regular season with back-to-back road games in early November.
