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QUICK OVERVIEW
Bradley Soccer will leave the state of Illinois for the first time this season and visit the state of Utah for the first time in the program's 29-year history when the Braves participate in Utah Valley's Holiday Inn Express Invitational Friday and Sunday ... Bradley will try to extend a 3-game winning streak when the Braves take on tournament host Utah Valley Friday night, then will complete the weekend tourney with a Sunday morning matchup against UNLV ... The Braves have won three consecutive games by identical 1-0 scores for the first time in program history and will put the streak to the test against an upstart Utah Valley squad that has averaged 2.0 goals per game while playing its first four matches away from home.
Bradley Pre-Tournament Notes Packet (PDF) | Utah Valley Pre-Tournament Notes Packet (PDF) | UNLV Soccer Home Page
SERIES HISTORY
Utah Valley | First Meeting
Not only will Friday's game be the first-ever meeting between Bradley and Utah Valley, it will be the first-ever game for the Braves in the state of Utah, as well as Bradley's first-ever game against a team from the Beehive State ... Although in just its second-year of existence, the Utah Valley program has gotten off to a fast start, averaging better than 1,300 fans per home game during a 9-7-2 debut campaign in 2014 ... Friday's game against Bradley will be Utah Valley's 2015 home opener.
UNLV | UNLV leads 2-0-0 | Last: UNLV 4-3, Aug. 31, 2014 at Shea Stadium
Sunday's matchup in the second round of the Holiday Inn Express Invitational will be the third meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and UNLV ... The teams have faced off each of the last two seasons with the Rebels taking both games, 4-1 in 2013 at UNLV and 4-3 last year at Shea Stadium ... In Jim DeRose's 20 years as Bradley head coach, UNLV joins Drake (twice in 27 games) as the only teams to twice score at least four goals against the Braves.
FAMILIAR FACES
The fourth team in the Holiday Inn Express Invitational is Mercer, which is coached by former Bradley associate head coach Brad Ruzzo ... Now in his eighth year as the head coach at Mercer, Ruzzo also spent eight years at Bradley (2000-07), where he helped the Braves win four Missouri Valley Conference championships and advance to the first four NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, including a run the Elite Eight in 2007 ... One of Mercer's assistant coaches is Matt Kuehl, a 2012 Bradley graduate who helped the Braves reach the second round 2011 NCAA Tournament as the team's Newcomer of the Year.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Bradley's 31-man roster includes 23 players who have no more than one year of playing experience in the program, including 16 true (12) and redshirt (4) freshmen ... Thus far, seven freshmen have played during the first four games of the season ... Bradley has the greatest number of freshmen and its roster consists of the greatest percentage of freshmen of any team in The Valley ... In fact, Bradley's 16 freshmen are one more than Loyola Chicago (8) and Evansville (7) combined ... According to research conducted by Tulsa, Bradley is tied for fourth nationally with 23 freshmen and sophomores, trailing only Radford, Tulsa and Utah Valley, all with 24.
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