2011 Bradley Soccer Game Notes
Games 3 & 4 - Sept. 1 vs. Eastern Illinois and Sept. 3 vs. Green Bay
GAME 3 - EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-0-0) AT BRADLEY (2-0-0)
DATE: Thursday, Sept. 1
TIME: 7 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Shea Stadium (Peoria, Ill.)
TICKETS: $6 adults, $3 youth (K-12)
THE GAME
Bradley will host its 25th home-opener Thursday night when former Missouri Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois visits Shea Stadium ... Coming off a pair of wins in the state of Indiana last weekend, the Braves will be shooting for their first 3-0 start to a season since the 2000 NCAA Tournament squad opened with a 5-0-0 record ... Bradley is 13-8-3 (.604) all-time in home openers, including 5-2-1 (.688) at Shea Stadium, but the Braves are winless (0-2-1) in their last three home openers.
THE SERIES
Thursday's game will be the 23rd all-time meeting between in-state rivals Bradley and Eastern Illinois ... The Braves own a 12-8-2 lead in the all-time series, including an 8-2-0 home record against the Panthers ... The teams were Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1996-2010 and the Braves dominated the series during that time with a 12-4-2 margin ... Despite the advantage, the series has been marked by close games: 12 of the last 15 regular-season meetings have been decided by one goal.
THE COACHES
BRADLEY: Jim DeRose (Johnson State '89) has begun his 16th year as a collegiate head coach, all at Bradley, and begins the week with a 168-117-31 (.581) career record. DeRose's 168 victories represent 76.7 percent of the total Bradley victories (219) in program history. DeRose is 12-4-2 all-time against Eastern Illinois.
EASTERN ILLINOIS: Adam Howarth (Eastern Illinois '93) is beginning his 12th year at the helm of the Eastern Illinois program and enters Thursday's game with an 80-104-20 (.441) career record ... Howarth is 2-10-2 all-time against Bradley.
GAME 4 - GREEN BAY (0-0-0) AT BRADLEY
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 3
TIME: 7 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Shea Stadium (Peoria, Ill.)
TICKETS: $6 adults, $3 youth (K-12)
THE GAME
Bradley will wrap up a two-games-in-three-days home stand Saturday night by hosting Horizon League member Green Bay at Shea Stadium ... The Phoenix also will be playing two games in three days after opening their season Thursday night at SIU Edwardsville.
THE SERIES
Green Bay won the only previous meeting between the two teams last season, taking a 2-0 decision Sept. 26, 2010 at Green Bay.
THE COACHES
GREEN BAY: Kris Kelderman is beginning his first year as a collegiate head coach and Thursday's season-opener at SIU Edwardsville will mark his coaching debut .... Kelderman previously served as an assistant coach in Major League Soccer for D.C. United (2010) and the Kansas City Wizards (2007-09), following a two-year stint as associate head coach at George Mason (2005-06).
FAST STARTS
Bradley has started the season by winning its first two games on the road for just the second time in school history (1991) ... When the Braves host Eastern Illinois Thursday, they will be shooting for their first 3-0 start since 2000 and just their third 3-0 start in the program's 25-year history ... The Braves have been undefeated through three games seven times and have gone on to reach the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five seasons they have not lost one of the first three games.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's pair of home games, Bradley's next four games will be played in regular-season tournaments ... The Braves will take on a pair of nationally-ranked teams -- South Florida and South Carolina -- during next weekend's Dartmouth Classic before returning home to host Memphis and Loyola-Chicago in the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic Sept. 16-18 at Shea Stadium.
