PEORIA, Ill. ? Coming off a 16-win season and a historical run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, the Bradley soccer team will begin preparation for the 2008 season with a six-game spring schedule, which was announced today by head coach Jim Derose. The Braves will play six times in a four week span, including a home contest against Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake. The Braves will open spring play against Wisconsin-Green Bay at the Huskie Spring Invite in DeKalb this Saturday.

The Braves will play a pair of 60 minutes games on Saturday, beginning with Wisconsin-Green Bay at 4 p.m. The Phoenix won 11 times last season before falling in the Horizon League championship game. The Braves will follow that match with a 7 p.m. contest with host Northern Illinois. The Huskies won seven games a year ago.

"While the loss of nine seniors who were the driving force to last season's remarkable Elite Eight run and several Missouri Valley Conference championships will certainly leave a great void on the soccer side, a greater challenge will be the loss of leadership, maturity, and the complete unselfishness they displayed during our most trying time," Derose said.

Bradley will follow the Huskie Spring Invite with single contests during each weekend in April. The Braves will visit Dayton Sunday, April 6, at 10 a.m. The Flyers went 10-4-5 in 2007 and were unbeaten in nine home matches. Six days later, the Braves will play at Northwestern, a 12-game winner that qualified for the NCAA tournament last season.

The only home game of the spring is scheduled for April 19 at noon, as MVC rival Drake will visit Shea Stadium. The Braves knocked off Drake last Oct. 27, 1-0 at Shea Stadium. The Bradley soccer awards banquet will take place the evening of April 19. 2007 NCAA tournament participant Saint Louis is the final BU opponent in the spring, as the Braves will visit the Billikens April 26 at 11 a.m.

"The quality of opponents on our spring schedule is fantastic with our six opponents averaging ten wins," Derose said. "All of these teams should be among the preseason favorites in their respective leagues in 2008, and with five of the six matches away from Bradley, I am confident that our team faces a very realistic picture for next fall. There are tremendous opportunities to be had by individuals who previously have not played many minutes, and this spring will provide those opportunities in the most challenging of environments. I believe our veteran players are prepared to assume a greater and expanded leadership role, and I know the players are extremely excited to get started."

Junior-to-be Chris Cutshaw (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) is the top returning scorer for the Braves, scoring eight goals last season to go along with three assists. Freshmen Wolfe Repass (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo H.S.) and JC Reid (Omaha, Neb./Ralston H.S.) will see their first playing time after ACL surgeries last summer prior to coming to BU.

"This spring will prove extremely challenging and is very important to gauging our performance next fall," Derose said. "Training just 15 field players and one goalkeeper this spring has given us the opportunity to focus a tremendous amount on the technical portion of the game, but we have yet to be challenged in any type of 11 vs. 11 situations."