PEORIA, Ill. - Senior forward Chris Cutshaw (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) and sophomore defender Bryan Gaul (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) both earned national recognition Monday for their contributions to the Bradley Soccer team's undefeated (2-0-1) start to the season last week.
Cutshaw was named to the 11-player national Teams of the Week by both Soccer America magazine and the CollegeSoccerNews.com website, while Gaul earned a spot on the Team of the Week released by the TopDrawerSoccer.com website.
Cutshaw's honors marks the second consecutive year he has landed on the Soccer America and CollegeSoccerNews.com Teams of the Week for the opening week of the season. While helping the Braves to a 2-0-1 record in the season's first three games last week, Cutshaw scored Bradley's final five goals, including both of his team's game-winners. His 83rd-minute strike lifted Bradley to a 2-1 win Tuesday evening at Northern Illinois. He followed up by scoring the game's first goal in the 10th minute of Bradley's eventual 1-1 tie versus Memphis Friday night at Shea Stadium, a game that was televised nationally on the Fox Soccer Channel. Cutshaw ended the week by scoring all three goals in Bradley's 3-0 win against Mercer Sunday night to record the seventh hat trick in Bradley Soccer history and earn Most Valuable Player honors for the Busey Bank Kickoff Festival. His five goals secured Cutshaw's place as the Missouri Valley Conference active career leader in both goals (27) and points (61).
Cutshaw was joined on the 11-player Busey Bank Kickoff Festival all-tournament team by Gaul, senior midfielder Justin Bigelow and senior defender Travis English.
Gaul was a starter in the Bradley midfield as a freshman last year, but made a smooth transition to left back during the opening week. His play in the back line helped limit Bradley's first three opponents to just two goals on only 16 shots on goal (5.3/game). More notably he made his presence felt on the offensive end by dishing out four assists, already two more than Bradley's three tri-leaders last season.
Gaul started the week by assisting Bigelow's tying goal at Northern Illinois in the 77th minute. His laser from deep in Bradley's end sprung Cutshaw for his go-ahead goal Friday versus Memphis. In Sundays' win against Mercer, Gaul got the scoring started by serving up a perfect corner kick to Cutshaw's head in the third minute, then played Graham Stockdale's throw-in to the front of the net for another Cutshaw finish in the 41st minute.
The Braves will remain in tournament mode this weekend by hosting Evansville, Western Michigan and Xavier in The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic at Shea Stadium. Following preliminary games involving Evansville both days, Bradley will play Western Michigan Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Xavier Saturday night at 7:30.
Tickets for Bradley Soccer regular-season home games are $6 for adults, $3 for children (k-12) and senior citizens and free for Bradley University students, faculty and staff, as well as active members of the military and their immediate families, all with valid identification. Parking at Shea Stadium is $3.
