Soccer to Host Bradley Invitational

More reunions, in-state rivalries and a visit from a B1G opponent are among the story lines as Bradley Soccer prepares to host the Bradley Invitational this weekend at Shea Stadium

Bradley Game Notes (PDF)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 9/6/2018 10:35:00 AM

PEORIA, IL – More reunions, the renewal of an in-state rivalry and a visit from a B1G opponent all will be storylines when Bradley Soccer hosts Eastern Illinois, Wisconsin, Mercer and Missouri State for this weekend's Bradley Invitational Friday and Sunday at Shea Stadium. The five-team event features three 2017 conference champions, as well as a Bradley squad trying to extend one of the nation's longest active unbeaten streaks (6-0-3). Mercer won the 2017 Southern Conference Tournament championship, Missouri State won the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and Wisconsin captured the 2017 Big Ten Conference Tournament crown.

BRADLEY INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 7 | Peoria, IL | Shea Stadium
2:00 p.m. Missouri State vs. Mercer | Live Stats
7:00 p.m. EASTERN ILLINOIS AT BRADLEY | ESPN3 | Live Stats

Sunday, Sept. 9 | Peoria, IL | Shea Stadium
11:00 a.m. Eastern Illinois vs. Mercer | Live Stats
6:00 p.m. WISCONSIN AT BRADLEY | ESPN+ | Live Stats

GAME 5 | EASTERN ILLINOS AT BRADLEY
Date:  Friday, Sept. 7, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Peoria, IL | Shea Stadium
Television: ESPN3 | Cole Bredahl (pbp) and Josah Ulrich (analyst)
Live Stats:  Sidearm
Series History:  Friday's meeting in the Bradley Invitational will renew one of the oldest and most-played series in Bradley Soccer history ... Friday's game will be the 28th meeting between the Braves and Panthers, dating back to Bradley's second season as a NCAA Division I program in 1988 ... Bradley has built a 17-8-2 lead in the all-time series by winning five straight against the Panthers ... While Eastern Illinois won the first six meetings from 1988-97, since 1998 Bradley is 17-2-2 against the Panthers, including 12 consecutive home wins in the series during that span.

GAME 6 | WISCONSIN AT BRADLEY
Date:  Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Peoria, IL | Shea Stadium
Television: ESPN+ (Available for viewing at ESPN.com and via the ESPN App) | Joey Simon (pbp) and Josiah Ulrich (analyst)
Live Stats:  Sidearm
Series History:  Sunday's meeting in the final game of the Bradley Invitational will mark the fifth all-time matchup between the Braves and Badgers ... Wisconsin is 4-0-0 all-time in a series that dates back to Bradley's inaugural NCAA Division I season in 1987 ... The series has not been revisited since 1992 ... With two previous visits to Peoria, Wisconsin is one of three Big Ten Conference men's soccer teams to visit the Braves, joining Northwestern (three times) and Rutgers (2016) ... Bradley is 3-3-0 in its six previous home games against the B1G, including 1-1-0 at Shea Stadium (beat Northwestern, 3-1, in 2012 and lost to Rutgers, 3-2, in 2016).

HOT STARTS
Bradley is unbeaten (3-0-1) through its first four games for the first time since 2011 (4-0-2 start) and just the sixth time in the program's 32-year NCAA Division I history.

UNBEATEN START EXTENDS RUN
Not only is Bradley off to its best 4-game start to a season since 2011, but by opening with a 3-0-1 record, the Braves have extended their unbeaten streak to nine games ... Bradley ended the 2017 season unbeaten in its final five games (3-0-2), seeing its season come to an end in a penalty kick shootout following a 1-1 draw against Central Arkansas in the semifinals of the 2017 MVC Men's Soccer Championship ... Bradley's current 9-game unbeaten streak (6-0-3) is the third-longest in program history, following a 15-game (11-0-4) run to start the 2002 season and a 10-game streak (8-0-2) from Nov. 9, 1997-Oct. 19, 1998.

REUNION WEEKEND
While Bradley earned a 1-0 win in Friday's matchup against former Braves assistant coaches Brian Barnett and Ronnie Bouemboue at IUPUI, this weekend's reunion scenario will present a different stress level for head coach Jim DeRose ... Mercer is participating in this weekend's Bradley Invitational, but the Bears will play opposite Bradley both days (4 p.m. Friday versus Missouri State and 11 a.m. Sunday against Eastern Illinois) ... Mercer's head coach is Brad Ruzzo, who was on the Bradley staff for eight seasons from 2000-07, helping the Braves to four Missouri Valley Conference championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances ... Mercer's starting goalkeeper is J.R. DeRose, the son of Jim DeRose ... A redshirt sophomore, the younger DeRose has helped the Bears to a 4-0-0 record by posting a 0.75 goals against average while playing all of his team's 360 minutes to date

LAND OF THE BRAVES
As Bradley prepares to host Eastern Illinois Friday night, the Braves will be trying to extend their dominance of the state of Illinois during the tenure of 23rd-year head coach Jim DeRose ... Since DeRose took over the program to start the 1996 season, Bradley boasts a 66-29-8 (.680) record against teams from the state of Illinois ... Included in that record is a 26-8-3 (.743) mark at Shea Stadium ... Against the three Illinois teams on Bradley's home schedule in 2018, the Braves are a combined 17-3-0 (.850) at Shea Stadium: Eastern Illinois (8-0-0), Loyola Chicago (5-0-0) and Western Illinois (4-3-0).

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