Exhiition 2 at Louisville

• Bradley will play its second exhibition game of the preseason Tuesday when the Braves visit #25 Louisville.
• Although not an official game, Tuesday's scrimmage will be Bradley Soccer's first-ever meeting against the Cardinals.

 BU Wins Exhibition Opener

• Senior forward Chris Cutshaw scored the game's only goal in the 20th minute and the Bradley defense allowed only four shots on goal, keying a 1-0 exhibition victory at Western Illinois in the preseason opener Thursday night.
• The teams followed the regular 90-minute game with 30 more minutes of scrimmage action and sophomore forward Christian Meza netted the only goal of the extra time with a 35-yard laser.
• All three Bradley keepers combined on 120 minutes of shutout play: junior Drew Van Kampen made two saves in 60 minutes as the starter, while junior Jim Schultz and sophomore Kyle Orne each played 30 minutes.

 Looking to Rebound in '09

• Coming off a 6-12-2 season in 2008, the Braves will be trying to return to the form that saw them win three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles from 2005-07.
• Bradley returns 13 lettermen, including eight starters, from last year's team, as well as seven holdovers from the 2007 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight squad.

14th Year for DeRose

• Head coach Jim DeRose is beginning his 14th year at the helm of the Bradley Soccer program.
• DeRose owns 74.5 percent (149-of-200) of the wins in the program's history and he is the third-winningest coach in Valley history with 149 career victories.

 Mentor Joins Staff

• Patience in the search for a replacement for longtime Associate Head Coach Brad Ruzzo paid off when Bradley head coach Jim DeRose filled the opening with veteran head coach Jeff Gettler in January.
• Gettler brings 27 years of NCAA Division I head coaching experience to the Bradley staff, following stints at Massachusetts, Lafayette and Richmond.
• Gettler was in his first year as the head coach at Richmond when he hired DeRose as his top assistant in 1995.

Cutshaw Tops the Charts

• Senior forward Chris Cutshaw is the Missouri Valley Conference active leader with 22 career goals and he is second with 51 career points.
• Cutshaw led the Braves in scoring last season with nine goals and 20 points and he needs just five more goals to crack Bradley's career top 5 list.

Preseason All-MVC

• Seniors Grant Campbell and Chris Cutshaw have been selected to the preseason All-MVC squad.
• Campbell is a three-time All-Valley selection: second team in 2006, honorable mention in 2007 and first team in 2008.
• Cutshaw was the 2006 MVC Freshman of the Year and earned second-team All-MVC honors in 2006 and 2008.

Four Braves on Fire

• Four current members of the Bradley Soccer team enjoyed successful summers in the Chicago Fire Premier program.
• Senior all-star candidates Grant Campbell and Chris Cutshaw helped the Fire Premier's PDL squad reach the main draw of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the league's national championship game Aug. 8 in Ventura, Calif.
• As the result of a conflict at Toyota Park (Jimmy Buffett concert), the Chicago Fire submitted a bid for Bradley University to host the PDL championship game Aug. 8 at Shea Stadium.
• Cutshaw ended the summer season as Chicago's second-leading scorer with five goals and 11 points.
• Meanwhile, sophomores Bryan Gaul and Christian Meza trained with the Chicago Fire Premier Super-20 squad and helped the team reach the semifinals of the USL Super-20 national tournament in Rockford.

Coming To America

• Bradley's three-man class of newcomers includes 6-foot-2 freshman center back Tapiwa Machingauta, who came to the Hilltop straight from Marondera, Zimbabwe this summer.
• Machingauta becomes the second Zimbabwean to play soccer at Bradley, following Thando Dzowa (1998-2001).