PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley Soccer
team will take its two preseason exhibitions on the road: the Braves will host their annual Red-White
Scrimmage Aug. 11 at Peoria Notre Dame High School and their Aug. 14 scrimmage
versus Dayton at Morton's McClallen Park.
Three
days after opening preseason camp, Bradley will stage in its annual intrasquad
scrimmage at PND, the site of the program's first-ever game as a NCAA Division
I program. In its inaugural home game,
Bradley hosted McKendree Sept. 12, 1987 at Bergan High School (Bergan later
merged with Spalding Academy to form Peoria Notre Dame).
Kickoff
for the Red-White Scrimmage is slated for 7 p.m. and admission will be free.
For
the first time since 2008, Bradley will host another NCAA Division I program in
a preseason exhibition when the Braves welcome Dayton to McClallen Park Aug.
14. The exhibition will be a return
matchup from the 2011 preseason, when the two squads played to a scoreless draw
at Dayton.
During
the conversion of the former Pete Vonachen Stadium at Meinen Field into the
current Shea Stadium soccer facility, Bradley played its home games during the
2001 and 2002 seasons in Morton at McClallen Park. The Braves have played a handful of Red-White
Scrimmages in Morton in recent years, but the Dayton exhibition will be their
first contest against another collegiate program at McClallen Park since New
Mexico visited for the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Kickoff for the
Dayton exhibition is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and admission again will be.
Bradley
officially will open its 26th NCAA Division I soccer season Aug. 24 when the
Braves host in-state rival Eastern Illinois in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Shea
Stadium. The Braves return 13 lettermen,
including five starters, from its 2011 squad that finished 15-6-2 overall and
reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.