This Week in Bradley Soccer
Bradley will face a pair of first-time opponents and will welcome a couple of old friends when the Braves host the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic Friday and Sunday at Shea Stadium ... Friday night's game against Hartwick and Sunday afternoon's tournament finale versus Nebraska-Omaha will be Bradley's first-ever games against the two opponents ... The tournament's fourth team, Mercer, is coached by former Bradley associate head coach Brad Ruzzo, who is assisted by former Bradley player Teddy Anderson.

First-Time Opponents
Bradley's two games this weekend at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic will be played against first-time opponents ... Bradley is 25-12-3 (.663) all-time when playing at home against a first-time opponent, includuing a 13-3-1 (.794) record in first-ever matchups played at Shea Stadium.

Weekend Promotions
Free thundersticks will be available for the first 1,000 fans to attend both weekend games ... The Braves will be available for postgame autographs following Sunday's tournament finale versus Nebraska-Omaha ... Bradley Soccer Tickets:  $6 adults, $3 children, Free for Bradley students, faculty and staff, as well as active members of the military and immediate family, all presenting valid identification.

Mercer Homecoming
Though Bradley will not play the Bears this weekend, Mercer's participation in the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic features a pair of noteworth homecomings ... Now in his fifth year as the head coach at Mercer, Brad Ruzzo was the associate head coach at Bradley from 2000-07, helping the Braves to four Missouri Valley Conference championships and the program's first four NCAA Tournament appearances ... In his second year as a Mercer assistant, Teddy Anderson played at Bradley from 2003-07 and was a key contributor on teams that won three straight MVC regular-season titles (2005-07), earned the program's first MVC Tournament title (2007) and played in two NCAA Tournaments, culminating with the 2007 Elite Eight appearance.

About Hartwick
Located in Oneonta, N.Y., Hartwick does not compete at the NCAA Division I level in most sports, but has a long tradition of success as a Division I men's soccer program ... A recent affiliate addition to the Mid-American Conference, Hartwick has played in 23 NCAA Tournaments and won the 1977 national championship ... The 2012 Hawks have a distinct international flavor, featuring a 21-man roster that includes 12 foreign players from six different countries and four continents.

About UNO
The Nebraska-Omaha program is beginning just its second season after posting a 1-11-1 record in its inaugural campaign in 2011 ... A member of the Summit League, the Mavericks are coached by former Creighton assistant Jason Mims, who is assisted by former Bluejays Tim Walters and Brian Holt ... UNO opened the regular-season with a 4-0 victory against Bellevue (Neb.), but perhaps more noteworthy was the team's 2-0 exhibition victory at Drake.

For a complete preview of this weekend's games, view the PDF version of the Bradley Soccer Weekly Notebook package.