Visit From an Old Valley Rival

Bradley Soccer will welcome former MVC rival Eastern Illinois to Shea Stadium Tuesday night

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 10/10/2017 3:22:00 PM

PEORIA, IL - Bradley Soccer will take a break from its Missouri Valley Conference schedule by facing a former league rival, Eastern Illinois, to conclude its season-long, 3-game home stand Tuesday night at Shea Stadium. Tuesday's game against the Panthers is the third in a 7-game stretch that has the Braves playing at Shea Stadium.

GAME DETAILS
Eastern Illinois Panthers (2-5-5) at Bradley Braves (7-4-1)
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Peoria, IL (Shea Stadium)
TV: N/A
Live Stats: Sidearm | Follow Live
Tickets: FREE admission for tonight's game

RENEWAL OF AN OLD VALLEY RIVALRY
• Bradley will take a break from its Missouri Valley Conference schedule by facing an old Valley rival, Eastern Illinois, to conclude its season-long, 3-game home stand Tuesday night at Shea Stadium.
•   Eastern Illinois competed as a MVC affiiate member from 1996-2010.
•   The Braves will be looking to rebound from Saturday's 1-0 loss to Missouri State, which snapped Bradley's 5-game unbeaten (4-0-1) streak and ended its 5-game home shutout streak.

AGAINST THE PANTHERS
27th Meeting | Bradley leads 16-8-2 | Bradley leads 11-2-0 at home
•   Tuesday's game will be the 27th meeting in one of Bradley's oldest and most-played rivalries.
•   The Braves own a 16-8-2 advantage in the series, which dates back to 1988.
•   The 16 wins against Eastern Illinois equal the most against any opponent in program history, matching the totals versus Drake (16-21-5), Evansville (16-10-2) and Western Illinois (16-10-1).
•   Eastern Illinois won the first six meetings in the series, but since 1998, Bradley has compiled a 16-2-2 record against the Panthers and will be looking to extend a 4-game series win streak and 5-game series unbeaten streak Tuesday night.

DeROSE'S IN-STATE RECORD
•   In his 22nd year as Bradley's head coach, Tuesday's game versus Eastern Illinois will be Jim DeRose's 101st game versus an in-state.
•   Including a 4-0-0 record to date this season, DeRose boasts a 65-38-7 (.685) record against teams from Illinois.
•   DeRose's teams are 25-7-3 (.757) all-time at Shea Stadium versus in-state competition.
•   Including Tuesday's game versus Eastern Illinois, four of Bradley's next six games are being played against in-state rivals with UIC to visit Shea Stadium Oct. 17 and road trips to Loyola Chicago Oct. 21 and Western Illinois Oct. 31.

NATION'S MOST IMPROVED
•   Bradley has proven to be one of the most-improved teams in the nation to date this year.
•   Bradley (2-15-3 in 2016 to 7-4-1 this year), Manhattan (2-12-3 to 7-4) and Northern Kentucky (1-13-4 to 6-3-3) are the only three teams in the nation that already have won five more games this season than all of last year.
•   The 5-win improvement to date equals the second-biggest jump from one year to the next in program history.

HOME SHUTOUTS
•   Bradley has won five of its seven home games by shutout this season.
•   The Braves have allowed only one regulation goal in the seven home games, a 29th-minute tally by Gonzaga Aug. 27 in the regular-season opener.

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