QUICK OVERVIEW
Bradley Soccer will play a rare Sunday night game as its 29th all-time home opener when the Braves welcome Houston Baptist for a non-conference tilt Sunday at Shea Stadium ... The Braves will be attempting to bounce back from Friday's 2-0 loss at Illinois-Chicago and halt a 2-game losing streak that dates back to last year's Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship ... Houston Baptist ended last season with a win against Air Force and will be shooting for its first 3-game winning streak since a 6-game run from Sept. 11-Oct. 11, 2013.

Bradley Pregame Notes Packet (PDF) | Houston Baptist Pregame Notes Packet (PDF)

SERIES HISTORY
Game 2 | Bradley leads 1-0-0 | First meeting in Peoria
Sunday's game will be the second all-time meeting in the history of the Bradley-Houston Baptist men's soccer history ... Bradley won the first matchup, a 1-0 decision Oct. 3, 2010 in Houston ... Bradley has played only one previous game against a team from Texas at Shea Stadium, a 3-1 loss to #18 SMU Sept. 19, 2010 ... The Braves are 1-3-1 all-time at home against teams from Texas: 0-2-1 versus SMU and 1-10 against TCU, which no longer sponsors men's soccer.

HOME-OPENING HISTORY
Sunday's game against Houston Baptist will be the 29th home opener in Bradley Soccer history ... The Braves are 17-8-3 (.661) all-time in their home openers, including a 9-2-1 (.792) in their previous 12 Shea Stadium opening games ... Bradley has won four straight home openers since a 2-1 loss to Dartmouth Sept. 17, 2010 ... As he begins his 20th year as Bradley Soccer head coach, Jim DeRose is 15-3-1 (.816) all-time in his home openers.

BUSY AUGUST
Although technically the second official game of the season, Bradley Soccer will play its fifth game of August Sunday night ... For the first time in program history, the Braves played three preseason exhibition games, beginning with a 3-3 draw Aug. 15 in Milwaukee ... Following exhibition losses Aug. 18 versus #6 Creighton (3-0) and Aug. 22 at #25 Akron (3-1), Bradley is coming off a 2-0 loss Friday at UIC in its regular-season opener.

LONE STAR MATCHUP
Sunday's game against Houston Baptist could have significant meaning for three Braves who came to Bradley from the Lone Star State ... All three Braves, however, are from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex ... Fourth-year sophomore J.T. Kotowski is from Keller, sophomore defender Clark Emerson hails from Grand Prairie, TX and freshman midfielder Garrett Dean is from Mansfield, TX.

SIX COMMON OPPONENTS
Although Bradley and Houston Baptist have little in common geographically, the two teams share an uncommonly high number of opponents this season ... The teams share six common opponents during the 2015 campaign:
Air Force: at Bradley Sept. 27; vs. HBU Oct. 18
Central Arkansas: vs. Bradley Oct. 24; at HBU Sept. 20
Gonzaga: at Bradley Oct. 2; HBU in Gonzaga Tourney Sept. 11-13
Milwaukee: at Bradley Sept. 6; vs. HBU Sept. 11
UNLV: vs. Bradley Sept. 13; vs. HBU Oct. 2
Utah Valley: vs. Bradley Sept. 11; at HBU Oct. 11

THE LAST TIME OUT
at Illinois-Chicago 2, Bradley 0 | Friday, Aug. 28 | Chicago | Game Recap
The host Flames (1-0-0) benefitted from a pair of deflected shots to earn the 2-0 victory in the season-opener for both teams ... Manny Chavez netted the game-winner just 1:35 into the game to complete a deep free kick sequence for the quickest goal to start a season in Bradley Soccer history ... Although UIC held a 17-9 shots advantage, the Flames managed only one more shot on goal, 7-6, than the Braves ... The loss snapped Bradley's 13-year, season-opening win streak as the Braves had not lost a season-opener since a 4-3 setback to Valparaiso Aug. 31, 2001 at McClallen Park in Morton.

AUGUST EQUALS HOT HOME STARTS
Sunday's game against Houston Baptist will be Bradley's 18th all-time August home game ... The Braves are 11-4-2 (.765) in their previous 17 August home games ... Overall, Bradley is 15-6-2 (.696) all-time in August games.