PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley junior midfielder Christian Meza (Carpentersville, Ill./Carpentersville H.S.) in the 28th minute and freshman goalkeeper Brian Billings (Apple Valley, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's H.S.) needed to make only two saves to make the goal stand as the winner as the fifth-seeded Braves (10-8-2) advanced to the semifinals of the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship with a 1-0 victory against fourth-seeded Drake (8-8-2) Wednesday night at Shea Stadium.

In Wednesday's opening game, #3 seed Missouri State (8-6-3) scored once in each half en route to a 2-0 win against #6 seed Evansville (7-10-1).  The Bears will face second-seeded SIU Edwardsville in Friday's 3 p.m. semifinal at Shea Stadium (9-5-3), while Bradley will take on regular-season champion Creighton (12-4-1) in the second semifinal at 6 o'clock.

In Wednesday's nightcap, the host Braves enjoyed the majority of the first-half possession, outshooting the Bulldogs by a 9-4 margin, and capitalized when freshman midfielder Aodhan Quinn (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel H.S.) sprung Meza on the left side of the penalty area.  Meza dribbled across the top, faking a pair of shots along the way, before ripping a laser from the center of the "D" inside the left post at 27:33 for his fifth tally of the year.

Although Drake turned up the pressure in the second half, Billings needed to make only one save in each half to record his third shutout of the season and second straight clean sheet.  His second-half save was highlight quality, blocking a point blank ball by Michael Thaden in the 57th minute.

In the opener, Evansville outshot Missouri State by a 14-9 count, but the Aces put only three of their chances on target.  MSU keeper Alex Riggs stopped all three for his ninth shutout of the season.

The Bears took advantage of a midfield giveaway midway through the first half to produce all of the offense they needed.  Defender David Bruckenheimer stepped in front of a pass on the left side of the midfield stripe and played the ball forward to forward Paul Paradise.  Paradise split two defenders, raced into the penalty area and drove a 1-v-1 shot past Evansville keeper Robert Randant at 24:22 to score what proved to be the game-winner.

Missouri State forward Heath Melugin tacked on an insurance goal in the 82nd minute and the well-organized Bears defense took care of the rest.