2011 Bradley Soccer Game Notes
Games 5 & 6 - Sept. 9 vs. #8 South Florida and Sept. 11 vs. South Carolina
GAME 5 - BRADLEY (3-0-1) VS. #8 SOUTH FLORIDA (3-0-0)
DATE: Friday, Sept. 9
TIME: 4:30 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Hanover, N.H. (Burnham Field)
TICKETS: $7 adults, $4 youth (14 & under)
THE GAME
A pair of nationally-ranked and undefeated opponents will square off in the opening game of the Dartmouth Classic Friday afternoon when Bradley takes on South Florida ... The Braves have jumped to #23 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 48 National Rankings, while South Florida appears in all of the national rankings and as high as No. 8 by Soccer America ... .The Bulls become the highest-ranked opponent Bradley has faced since the Braves fell to #2 Creighton, 2-0, in the semifinals of the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Evansville.
THE SERIES
Friday's game will be the first-ever men's soccer clash between Bradley and South Florida ... The Braves have won two straight against Big East Conference opponents, blanking both Cincinnati (1-0) and DePaul (2-0) during the 2007 season at Shea Stadium.
THE COACHES
BRADLEY: Jim DeRose (Johnson State '89) is in his 16th year as a collegiate head coach, all at Bradley, and enters Friday's game with a 169-117-32 (.582) career record ... DeRose's 169 victories represent 76.8 percent of the total Bradley victories (220) in program history ... Friday's game will be DeRose's first-ever against South Florida and Bulls head coach George Kiefer.
SOUTH FLORIDA: George Kiefer is in his 10th season as a collegiate head coach, all at USF., and enters Friday's game with a 105-53-23 (.644) record.
GAME 6 - BRADLEY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA (1-2-0)
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 11
TIME: 11 a.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Hanover, N.H. (Burnham Field)
TICKETS: $7 adults, $4 youth (14 & under)
THE GAME
Bradley will conclude its participation in the Dartmouth Classic by facing a second first-time opponent, South Carolina, Sunday morning ... Sunday's game will be the first in conssecutive games for Bradley against Conference USA members as the Braves will host Memphis Sept. 16 at Shea Stadium.
THE SERIES
Sunday's meeting will be the first-ever men's soccer game between Bradley and South Carolina ... Bradley is winless (0-4-1) in its last five games against Conference USA teams since the Braves swept through Memphis (4-0) and UAB (2-1) at the Memphis Tournament to open the 2008 season.
THE COACHES
SOUTH CAROLINA: The winningest active coach in the NCAA Division I ranks, Mark Berson is in his 35th season as a collegiate head coach and his 34th year at the helm of the South Carolina program ... Berson enters the Dartmouth Classic with a 442-182-58 (.691) career record, including a 431-177-58 (.691) mark with the Gamecocks.
FAST STARTS
Bradley started the 2011 season by winning its first three games for just the third time in school history, following the 1991 (3-0-0) and 2000 (5-0-0) squads ... The Braves now are undefeated through four games for just the fifth time in program history ... While the first three undefeated starts through four games resulted in a strong finish, the 2009 squad was unable to carry the momentum from the fast start deep into the season.
DEEP LINEUP
Bradley's deep lineup has played a key role in the team's ability to start the season undefeated while twice facing two games in three days ... The Braves used 19 players in the 4-1 win Aug. 26 at #21 Butler and 18 in the 1-0 win Aug. 28 at IPFW ... Now through four games, Bradley has started the same 10 players in all four games, while 12 different players have seen time as substitutes ... By contrast, Bradley's four opponents have combined to use a total of 14 reserve players.
DEFENSIVE SECOND HALVES
Bradley has yet to surrender a goal after halftime this season ... The Braves have allowed only four shots on goal after halftime through four games.
PLAYING WITH THE LEAD
The Braves faced their first deficit of the season Thursday when Eastern Illinois took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute ... The deficit last less than four minutes, though, as the Braves got the equalizer in the 32nd minute ... While Bradley has trailed for a total of 3-minutes, 35-seconds this season, the Braves have played with the lead for 149-minutes, 46-seconds.
VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
Heading into Friday's game versus #8 South Florida, Bradley is 18-38-7 (.341) all-time against nationally-ranked teams ... Including the season-opening, 4-1 win against #21 Butler, Bradley has won three of its last four games versus nationally-ranked opponents.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bradley will continue its regular-season tournament schedule next weekend by hosting Evansville, Loyola-Chicago and Memphis during the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational at Shea Stadium ... Bradley will take on Memphis in the 7 p.m. game Sept. 16 and Loyola-Chicago in the 2:30 p.m. game Sept. 18.
