The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic

Bradley will host an in-season tournament for the 25th time in program history when the Braves welcome Evansville, Fairleigh Dickinson and #16 Utah Valley to Shea Stadium this weekend.

Bradley University Marketing

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 9/1/2016 1:15:00 PM

PEORIA, IL - For the 25th time in program history, Bradley Soccer will host a regular-season tournament when the Braves (0-1-1) welcome Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville (1-1-0), first-time opponent Fairleigh Dickinson (1-1-0) and nationally-ranked Utah Valley (1-0-0) to Shea Stadium this weekend for The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic.

Bradley's two tournament games, both 7 p.m. starts Friday (Fairleigh Dickinson) and Sunday (#16 Utah Valley), will be televised on ESPN3. Tickets for each day's action are $6 for adults, $3 for children (K-8) and free for Bradley University students, faculty and staff, as well as active members of the military and their immediate family members.

2016 THE HOTELS AT GRAND PRAIRIE CLASSIC | PEORIA, IL | SHEA STADIUM | ALL TIMES CT
Friday, Sept. 2
4:30 p.m. Evansville vs. #16 Utah Valley | Live Stats
7:00 p.m. Fairleigh Dickinson at Bradley | The Valley on ESPN3 | Live Stats

Sunday, Sept. 4
12:00 p.m. Evansville vs. Fairleigh Dickinson | Live Stats
7:00 p.m. #16 Utah Valley at Bradley | The Valley on ESPN3 | Live Stats

25TH HOME TOURNAMENT
Bradley will host a regular-season tournament for the 25th time in the program's 30-year history when the Braves welcome Evansville, Fairleigh Dickinson and #24 Utah Valley to Shea Stadium Friday and Sunday for The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic ... The Braves are 33-11-4 (729) all-time in home tourney play with 12 titles and six runner-up finishes ... Bradley's most-recent title in The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic came in 2013 when the Braves topped New Hampshire and Massachusetts, both by 1-0 scores.

HOSTING THE NATION'S BEST
For the second time in three outings at home this year, Bradley will host a nationally-ranked opponent when the Braves take on #16 Utah Valley Sunday night in The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic finale ... Bradley kicked off the 2016 season with a preseason exhibition victory against then No. 9 Notre Dame, a 1-0 victory in the annual Danny Dahlquist Memorial Game ... In the official records, Utah Valley becomes the first nationally-ranked team to visit Shea Stadim since #6 Cal State Northridge took a 1-0 victory Sept. 28, 2013 ... Bradley's last home win against a nationally-ranked opponent was a 3-1 triumph against No. 17 Northwestern Oct. 3, 2012 ... While Bradley is 21-43-7 all-time against nationally-ranked foes, Utah Valley becomes the first of those opponents to enter its game against the Braves with a No. 16 highest ranking.

YOUNGEST TEAM IN THE VALLEY
For the second consecutive year, Bradley is the youngest team in the Missouri Valley Conference ... Half of Bradley's 36-man roster is made up of freshmen - 11 true freshmen and seven redshirt freshmen - and 74 percent (27-of-36) of the roster owns no more than one year of experience in the program with one transfer sophomore and eight second-year sophomores in the mix ... During the opening weekend in Spokane, Bradley played seven freshmen, including six true freshmen, in at least one of the two games ... Of the 22 players to see the field in Spokane, 13 were either freshmen (7) or sophomores (6).

DEFENSE CONTRIBUTES TO OFFENSE
Junior defender Buseese Lwanga scored his first career goal in the 61st minute Friday at Gonzaga, helping the Braves rally for a 1-1 draw ... The goal was set up by fellow third-year defender Jacob Taylor, who started the scoring sequence with a long throw, then looped Gonzaga's clearance attempt back into the fray for Lwanga's header finish ... Taylor is second among Bradley's active players with six career assists.

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