Missouri Valley Conference Return Game

After playing Loyola Chicago to a scoreless draw Sept. 25 in Chicago, Bradley Soccer will host the Ramblers Wednesday night

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 10/22/2019 4:13:00 PM

BRADLEY BRAVES (4-5-3, 3-3-1 MVC)
vs.
Loyola Chicago Ramblers (8-3-1, 3-1-1 MVC)

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Peoria, IL
Venue: Shea Stadium (natural grass)
Tickets: $6 adults, $4 youth; FREE Bradley students, faculty and staff; FREE active military and immediate family | Information
Promotion: FREE general parking
Live Stats: SidearmStats via BradleyBraves.com
TV: The Valley on ESPN | ESPN3

BRADLEY SOCCER TICKETS
Single-Game Adult: $6
Single-Game Children (K-8th grade): $4
Kaboom!'s Club: FREE (with $10 annual membership) | Click HERE for information
Bradley students, faculty and staff (with valid ID): FREE
Active Military and Immediate Family (with valid ID): FREE
For Complete Information: Click Here

BRADLEY SOCCER TICKET BANK
• Supporters of the Bradley Soccer program, led by the Friends of Bradley Soccer, have made more than 5,000 complimentary tickets available for not-for-profit organizations, youth teams, schools and individuals who otherwise may not be able to attend Bradley Soccer home games.
• If you or your organization would like to request tickets from the Bradley Soccer Ticket Bank to utilize during the 2019 season, CLICK HERE and complete the request form and you will be contacted by a representative of the Bradley Soccer program.
• Please submit requests at least 48 hours prior to the selected game.

RE-SCHEDULED WEEK
•   Due to the re-working of the schedule when the season's first game against Valparaiso was abandoned due to lightning, Bradley will close out October with consecutive Missouri Valley Conference home games this week.
•   In a battle of teams who will enter the game tied for third in The Valley standings, each with 10 points, the Braves will host in-state rival Loyola Chicago Wednesday night.
•   Bradley originally was scheduled to visit Valparaiso Sunday, but when the initial game Sept. 29 at Shea Stadium was abandoned in the 66th minute, it was quickly made up Oct. 1 at Valparaiso and the return game was flipped to Peoria.
•   Sunday's game against the Crusaders will mark the second time in program history (UCA in November 2012) Bradley will face the same opponent to start and close a month.

SERIES HISTORY
24th Meeting • Bradley leads 14-8-1
Loyola leads in MVC games, 4-3-1
•   Wednesday's meeting will be the 24th in the all-time series between the Braves and Loyola Chicago, which dates back to Bradley's first NCAA Division I season in 1987.
•   Although Bradley owns a 14-8-1 lead in the all-time series, Loyola is 4-3-1 in the eight meetings against Bradley since joining The Valley in 2013, including 2-0-1 in the last three matchups.
•   Bradley won 12-of-14 meetings from 1990-2013.
•   Bradley had won seven consecutive home games in the series, before the Ramblers ended the streak with a 2-1, overtime win in their last visit to Shea Stadium Sept. 29, 2018.
•   In his 24th year as Bradley head coach, Jim DeRose owns a 10-5-1 all-time record against the Ramblers.
•   Bradley's 4-2 win in double overtime Sept. 27, 1996 at Loyola Chicago was DeRose's first career win in a true road game and came the day before his 29th birthday.

HISTORIC SHUTOUT
•   Bradley earned a road point in the Missouri Valley Conference standings by battling Loyola Chicago to a scoreless draw Sept. 25 at Loyola Soccer Park.
•   The Braves earned the 110-minute shutout, despite being outshot, 25-9, and giving up a program record 19 corner kicks to their opponent.
•   Loyola managed to put just five of their 25 shots on target: Nathan Wisbey made three saves and was aided by a pair of team saves to record the clean sheet.

VALLEY LOG JAM
•   As the Missouri Valley Conference race draws to a close, Bradley (3-3-1) and Loyola Chicago (3-1-1) enter Wednesday's matchup tied for third in the league standings, each with 10 points.
•   The two squads trail second-place Drake (4-3-0, 12 points) by just two points.
•   Loyola Chicago will have more chances to build its point total, however, as the Ramblers still have five Valley games left to play for a ceiling of 25 points.
•   The only perfect team in the country, #9 Missouri State currently leads the chase with 18 points on the strength of its 6-0-0 league record and the Bears can push their total to 30 points by remaining undefeated and untied.
•   With three games left to play, Bradley can max out at 19 points in the league standings, while Drake can go no higher than 18 points.

DEFENSE REMAINS STOUT
• Through the season's first 12 games, Bradley continues to lead The Valley by allowing the opposition only a .289 shots-on-goal percentage - of the 142 shots allowed, only 41 have been on target.
• Bradley has never finished a season with an opponent shots-on-goal-percentage below .340 (2005).
• The Braves rank third in The Valley with a 1.01 goals against average.

ATTENDANCE TRACKER
• Through the first six home games of the season, Bradley's average attendance is 1,042.
• According to statistics posted by the NCAA through games of Oct. 21, Bradley ranks 28th nationally in average home attendance, 15th among teams outside the Power 5 conferences and first in The Valley.
• Bradley's six home attendance numbers to start the season - 1233, 1072, 932, 958, 1215 and 838 - represent the six largest home attendance figures in the Missouri Valley Conference to date this season.
• Through the season's first six home games, Bradley has drawn 6,250 fans to Shea Stadium, already 1348 more than the total 4,902 fans for the full 2018, 10-game home slate.
• The current home crowd average is third-best season average in program history and is the best since setting the mark by averaging 1,220 during Shea Stadium's second season in 2004.

LOCATION, LOCATION
• Bradley collected its 10 points in the Missouri Valley Conference standings while playing five of its first six league games on the road.
• The opening Valley stretch came as part of an overall stretch of eight games that saw the Braves visit their opponents' home fields seven times.
• Bradley had played as many as 7-of-8 games on its opponents' home fields just one other time in the program's 33-year history - an 8-game road swing Sept. 10-Oct. 1, 1989 to start an overall 10-game that stretch that concluded with consecutive neutral-site games.
• The Braves also played 7-of-8 games away from home in 1990, but one of those eight included a neutral-site game.
• The heaviest stretch of Valley road games in program history previously came in 2004 when the Braves played 5-of-7 games to start the league race on the road, capped by four straight.
• On the flip side, however, the transition of Sunday's game versus Valparaiso to Shea Stadium means Bradley will close the league race by playing its final four Valley games at home.

OFFENSE RUNS THROUGH WINTERMEYER
• A preseason All-MVC selection, junior forward Gerit Wintermeyer has fired off 45 of Bradley's 139 (32.4 percent) shots this season, including 18 of Bradley's 47 (.383) shots on goal.
• In the 1-0 loss to Eastern Illinois Sept. 13, Wintermeyer tied the Bradley single-game record with nine shots.
• Making Wintermeyer's nine shots Sept. 14 against the Panthers stand out even more: Jha'Lon Johnson (14) is the only other player on the team to total more than nine shots through the season's first 12 games.
• Wintermeyer leads The Valley and ranks 17th nationally by averaging 3.75 shots per game.

THAT 70S LIST
• Senior John Pollifrone enters Wednesday's game as Bradley's active leader with 68 career games played and 66 career games started.
• Senior Jha'Lon Johnson follows with 65 career games played.
• With at least six games remaining in the 2019 season, both players are on track to join Bradley's 70 Games Played Club.
• With a win in next month's MVC Men's Soccer Championship, Pollifrone would have a chance to crack Bradley's top 10 list for career starts.

LOOKING AHEAD
•   Sunday's game versus Valparaiso will be the 200th Missouri Valley Conference game in program history.
•   As original Valley men's soccer programs, Bradley and Drake both will become charter members of the 200 MVC Games Club Sunday, while Missouri State will follow Nov. 3 when the Bears host Loyola Chicago.
•   After closing out its 3-game, Missouri Valley Conference home stand Sunday, Bradley will hit the road for its final two non-conference games, Nov. 1 at Northern Kentucky andNov. 4 at Western Illinois, before closing the regular season at home Nov. 9 by hosting Evansville.

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