ST. LOUIS – Bradley senior forward Jochen Graf (Double Oak, Texas/Faustina Academy) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, according to an announcement from the league office Monday afternoon.
Graf was the Evansville ProRehab Aces Classic Best Offensive Player after helping the Braves (3-1-2) to the tournament title this past weekend. Notably, he enjoyed his second multi-goal game of the season when he netted a pair of goals in Sunday's 4-1 victory against Portland. Graf opened the game's scoring by finishing in traffic in the 26th minute, then iced the game by scoring a short-handed, breakaway goal in the 79th minute.
Graf entered the season as Bradley's active career scoring leader with 28 points on eight goals and 12 assists, but he had never scored more than four goals or totaled more than 11 points in a single season. Through the first six games of the 2012 campaign, he leads The Valley with five goals and 11 points.
Monday's announcement marks the second time Graf has earned the MVC Offensive Player of the Week honor: he first won the award Sept. 12, 2011 after scoring the “golden” goal in an overtime victory against #8 South Florida at the Dartmouth Classic.
After going 1-0-1 in tournament play each of the last two weekends, Bradley will continue its tournament schedule this coming weekend when the Braves visit Nashville, Tenn. for Belmont's Mafiaozo Invitational. Bradley will take on Lipscomb at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the tournament opener, then will challenge host Belmont at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the tourney finale.
