Tough Road Trip Starts at Loyola Chicago

Bradley Soccer will play consecutive games at the top two teams in the MVC standings, beginning with Wednesday night's trip to Loyola Chicago

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 10/26/2021 8:00:00 AM

Bradley Soccer will kick off a tough Missouri Valley Conference road swing by visiting in-state league rival Loyola Chicago Wednesday night.

GAME PREVIEW
Bradley Braves (3-9-1, 2-5-0 MVC) at Loyola Chicago Ramblers (8-3-1, 5-1-1 MVC)
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Chicago, IL
Venue: Loyola Soccer Park

TOUGH ROAD SWING
• Bradley Soccer will face a challenging week as the Braves prepare for Missouri Valley Conference road trips Wednesday to Loyola Chicago and Sunday to #9 Missouri State.
• The Braves are unbeaten in their last two games and will bring a defensive effort of 263-minutes, 29-seconds consecutive scoreless time into Wednesday's match against a Loyola squad that has scored 15 goals in its last five games.
• Following the trip to Chicago, the Braves will get an extra day to prep for its Sunday evening game at #9 Missouri State, which will welcome the Braves riding a streak of 11 consecutive home wins.

SERIES HISTORY
28th Meeting • Bradley leads 14-11-2 • Loyola Chicago leads 7-5-1 at LUC
• Wednesday's game will be the 28th meeting in a series that dates back to Bradley's third year as a NCAA program, a 1-0 Loyola Chicago home win Sept. 10, 1989.
• The Braves then won 11 of the next 13 meetings as non-conference rivals, until Loyola Chicago joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2013 season.
• Since Loyola joined The Valley in 2013, the Ramblers own a 8-3-2 series record and the Ramblers are unbeaten (6-0-2) in their last eight games against Bradley.
• The Ramblers are unbeaten (5-0-1) in their last six home games against Bradley, all as MVC rivals as the Braves will be seeking their first win at Loyola Soccer Park since a 3-0 decision Oct. 31, 2012.

ON THE CUSP
• As Bradley's young lineup fights through a tough season, the Braves have been living on the edge all year.
• Through the season's first 13 regular-season games, 12 have been decided by just one goal and the Braves have scored first in five of those games, including three losses.
• To date, the 12-of-13 (.923) regular-season games decided by no more than one goal is the highest percentage of 1-goal decisions during a regular season in the program's 35 years.
Percentage of 1-Goal Games in Bradley Regular-Season History
Season GP <1 goal ="" pct. ="" w-l-t ="">
2021 13 12 .923 3-8-1 .292
2011 19 17 .895 11-4-2 .706
2018 17 14 .824 7-3-4 .643
2010 19 14 .737 7-5-2 .571
2001 18 13 .722 8-4-1 .654
• Dating back to the 2021 COVID spring season, 17 of Bradley's last 18 regular-season games have been decided by no more than one goal.

CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUTS
• By following the scoreless draw against Western Illinois Oct. 18 with a 1-0 win Saturday against SIU Edwardsville, Bradley has posted consecutive shutouts for the first time since back-to-back clean sheets Oct. 23, 2019 (0-0 vs. Loyola Chicago) and Oct. 27, 2019 (1-0 vs. Valparaiso).
• As the Braves prepare for Wednesday's visit to Loyola Chicago, which leads The Valley by averaging 2.25 goals per game, Bradley has not posted three consecutive shutouts since a 3-game ride versus Loyola Chicago (1-0), Purdue Fort Wayne (3-0) and at DePaul (1-0) Sept. 13-20, 2017.

FOLLOW THE BRAVES
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