Valley Soccer Season Kicks Off Saturday

Bradley Soccer will visit MVC preseason favorite Missouri State in the league opener for both teams Saturday afternoon

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Soccer 2/26/2021 9:00:00 AM

Game 2: Bradley Braves (1-0-0, 0-0-0 MVC) at Missouri State Bears (0-0-0)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021
Time: 3:300 pm
Where: Springfield, MO (Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium)
TV/Video Streaming: N/A
Audio: N/A
Live Stats: missouristatebears.com
Tickets: Free admission, but a 35 percent stadium capacity at Missouri State

Setting the Stage
• After opening this strangest of seasons Feb. 3 with a 3-2 victory against Eastern Illinois inside the perfect weather conditions of the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex Slugger Dome, Bradley Soccer will open its 8-game Missouri Valley Conference schedule Saturday by visiting league preseason favorite Missouri State.
• Saturday's matchup will feature the two winningest coaches in MVC Men's Soccer history: Jon Leamy (280 wins in his 29th season at Missouri State) and Jim DeRose (251 wins in his 25th year at Bradley) have combined for 531 victories in 54 collective seasons as the head coaches at their respective universities.
• After kicking off the league season Saturday, the two teams also will open the second half of Bradley's Valley slate, when the Bears are scheduled to visit Shea Stadium March 18.
• Since Bradley's 3-2 win against Eastern Illinois, the Braves have endured a pause in activities due to a COVID-19 positive within the program's Tier 1 group, as well as the delayed start of the league season due to the wintry conditions experienced throughout the Midwest.
• The 24-day gap in between games of the same season is the longest in program history.
• Bradley will play six games in the 24-day period from Feb. 27-March 22.

Series History
39th Meeting | Missouri State leads 25-9-4 (.711) | Missouri State leads 14-4-2 (.750) at home
• Missouri State has won five consecutive meetings since Bradley's last series victory, a 4-0 victory Oct. 17, 2015 at Shea Stadium.
• Since securing the most-lopsided win in series history in that 2015 victory, Bradley has totalled only two goals in the last five meetings against the Bears.
• Missouri State is 4-0-0 against Bradley at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium since the venue opened in 2014.
• The Bears have won four consecutive home games against Bradley since the Braves earned a 1-0 victory Oct. 6, 2012 at Plaster Sports Complex.
• Missouri State's 25 wins in the series equal Creighton (25-7-1) for the most by a single opponent against Bradley in the program's 34-year history.

New Additions
• Already with a roster featuring 14 true (9) and redshirt (5) freshmen, Bradley added two more rookies to the roster during the winter break.
• Germans Kwasi Boateng and Nicolaus Zurawik both enrolled at Bradley for the 2021 spring semester after teaming together for FSV Spandauer Kickers in the Berlin League during the fall of 2020.
• Bradley's 31-man roster now includes 11 true freshmen, five redshirt freshmen and seven sophomores.
• At 74.2 percent (23-of-31 student-athletes), nearly three-quarters of Bradley's roster began this 2020-21 season with at least three years of remaining eligibility.

For all those public address and The Valley on ESPN announcers out there wondering how to pronounce our names, your questions are answered. Here it is, the 2020-21 Bradley Soccer Video Pronunciation Guide 📽️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bmbejdEfRU
— Bradley Soccer (@BradleySoccer) February 25, 2021

Night of Firsts
Feb. 3 | Bradley 3, Eastern Illinois 2 | Full Recap
• Bradley's 3-2, season-opening win Feb. 3 was highlighted by a long list of firsts:
   - First game in 446 days since the 2019 MVC Men's Soccer Championship semifinals.
   - First regular-season game played in the month of February.
   - First regular-season game played indoors (Slugger Dome).
   - First Bradley points for five different Braves: redshirt freshman defender Jack Armitage (1 assist), freshman forward Patrick Fishburne (1 goal, game-winner), senior midfielder Saadiq Mohammed (2 assists), sophomore defender Rasmus Smidtslund and redshirt sophomore defender Malte Winkler (1 goal and 1 assist).
   - First Bradley win for graduate transfer keeper Bryce Logan.
   - First career game as EIU head coach for former Bradley assistant Ronnie Bouemboue.

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