Nationally-Ranked Bears Visit for Homecoming

Bradley Soccer will host #18 Missouri State in its annual Homecoming Game Saturday night at Shea Stadium

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 10/1/2021 9:00:00 AM

Bradley Soccer will host its 18th Homecoming game Saturday when the Braves welcome defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and nationally-ranked Missouri State to Shea Stadium.

GAME PREVIEW
#18 Missouri State Bears (7-1-0, 3-0-0 MVC) at Bradley Braves (2-6-0, 1-2-0 MVC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Peoria, IL
Venue: Shea Stadium

TOUGH HOMECOMING OPPONENT
• Bradley University will wrap its annual Homecoming festivities Saturday night when Bradley Soccer hosts #18 Missouri State in a featured event during the schedule of University activities.
• Missouri State rolls in to Peoria riding a 5-game overall win streak and the Bears have won their last 10 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season road games, dating back to a scoreless draw at Drake Oct. 27, 2018, which was preceded by a 1-0 loss at Loyola Chicago Oct. 13, 2018.
• Bradley will be seeking its first win against a nationally-ranked opponent since a 3-2, overtime victory at #3 Northwestern Oct. 2, 2013 and its first home win against a top 25 squad since a 3-1 triumph against the 17th-ranked Wildcats Oct. 3, 2012.
• The Braves began hosting a Homecoming Soccer Game during the 2005 season and bring a 12-5-0 (.706) record into the annual event, most-recently earning a 1-0 win against Drake Oct. 5, 2019 in its last Homecoming game.

SERIES HISTORY
42nd Meeting | Missouri State leads 28-9-4, 16-4-2 in Peoria
• As the Braves prepare to host Missouri State for the 42nd meeting in the Missouri Valley Conference rivalry, the series against the Bears is the second most-played in Bradley Soccer history, trailing only the 49 games in the Drake rivalry.
• The Bradley-Missouri State series dates back to a non-conference matchup Sept. 24, 1988 at Peoria Notre Dame High School, a 2-0 Bears win.
• Missouri State's 16 wins in Peoria are the most by any Bradley opponent and the Bears are 8-3-1 against the Braves at Shea Stadium.
• Missouri State is 18-11-3 all-time at Shea Stadium, including regular-season and post-season MVC Championship tournaments, the most wins of any team other than Bradley since the stadium opened in 2003.

IF YOU WERE GOING TO PICK A DAY
• Bradley's 4-3, double overtime win Saturday night at SIU Edwardsville was the team's 12th consecutive regular-season match decided by no more than one goal.
• The Braves are 2-8-2 in those 12 games, dating to a 1-0, overtime loss to #8 Missouri State March 18, 2021 at Shea Stadium.
• The 12 consecutive regular-season decisions by no more than one goal is the second-longest such streak in program history, trailing only a 16-game (10-4-2) run during the 2011 NCAA Tournament season.

ALL-TIME HOMECOMING RESULTS
Oct. 29, 2005 Western Kentucky W 2-1 1,620
Oct. 28, 2006 #15 Creighton W 2-1 1,577
Sept. 28, 2007 IUPUI W 3-0 1,110
Sept. 29, 2007 UIC - ot L 0-1 1,329
Oct. 3, 2008 Alabama A&M L 0-2 1,111
Oct. 4, 2008 Howard W 2-0 1,359
Oct. 3, 2009 Drake L 1-3 1,110
Oct. 16, 2010 UCA W 3-1 1,240
Oct. 15, 2011 SIU Edwardsville - ot W 2-1 2,006
Oct. 13, 2012 Evansville W 2-0 785
Oct. 19, 2013 Loyola Chicago W 2-0 1,106
Oct. 18, 2014 UCA W 1-0 1,605
Sept. 25, 2015 Loyola Chicago W 1-0 1,517
Sept. 17, 2016 Evansville L 0-2 2,032
Sept. 16, 2017 Purdue Fort Wayne W 3-0 2,355
Sept. 29, 2018 Loyola Chicago L 1-2 1,328
Oct. 5, 2019 Drake W 1-0 1,217

LOOKING AHEAD
• Bradley will have a full week to prepare for its next game Oct. 9 at Evansville.
• Following the road game against the Purple Aces, the Braves will enjoy their longest home stand of the season, a 3-game string that will begin Oct. 16 against Drake at Shea Stadium.

FOLLOW THE BRAVES
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