OMAHA, Neb. - Bradley's top two scorers earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and seven total Braves were recognized Thursday night during the MVC Tournament reception at Creighton's Morrison Stadium.
Senior forward Bryan Gaul (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) and senior midfielder Christian Meza (Carpentersville, Ill./Dundee Crown H.S.) both earned first-team All-MVC honors in a league-wide vote of the Valley head coaches. Sophomore goalkeeper Brian Billings (Apple Valley, Minn./Shattuck St. Mary's H.S.) was the lone Brave on the All-MVC second team, whiles senior midfielder Keith Mach (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South H.S.) junior forward Jochen Graf (Double Oak, Texas/Faustina Academy) and sophomore defender Jason Coon (Charletson, Ill./Charleston H.S.) all earned honorable mention laudits. Forward Desmond Campbell (Kingston, Jamaica/Wolmer's Boys School) was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team.
Gaul leads The Valley with six game-winning goals this season and is Bradley's leader with 23 points on 10 goals and three assists this season. His six game-winners are the second-best single-season total in school history and his output this year has bumped Gaul to fifth on Bradley's all-time goals list with 30 and into a tie for sixth in school history with 72 career points.
Meza, who scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute of Wednesday's 1-0 victory against SIU Edwardsville in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament, is Bradley's second-leading scorer this season with 12 points on four goals and four assists. Meza also is second among Bradley's active players with 13 goals, nine assists and 35 points.
An MVC All-Freshman pick in 2010, Billings has emerged as one of The Valley's top goalkeepers this season and he enters Friday's tournament semifinal with a 13-4-2 record, 5.0 shutouts, a 0.84 goals against average and a .820 saves percentage.
Mach has a goal and an assist in 20 games this season, including the game-winning strike in Bradley's 2-1 win at Evansville Oct. 29.
Graf is Bradley's third-leading scorer with eight points on three goals and two assists. Among his season highlights, Graf scored the quickest overtime winner in school history, propelling the Braves to a 2-1 Sept. 9 versus South Florida, which went on to earn the No. 1 seed for the Big East Conference Tournament.
Coon is Bradley's top marking back and has been the center of Bradley's defensive effort that has allowed just 17 goals this season. Coon also assisted Bradley's game-winning goal in the regular-season finale Saturday at Central Arkansas.
Campbell has five points on two goals and an assist this season, while bringing speed off the Bradley bench. Both of his goals have been game-winners: Sept. 18 versus Loyola-Chicago and Oct. 3 at New Hampshire.
The Braves (14-4-2), ranked as high as No. 19 in the country, will face #2 Creighton (16-2-0) in Friday's second semifinal at the State Farm MVC Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament final will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at Creighton's Morrison Stadium.
