Soccer Opens Preseason Friday at Northwestern

The Braves will play three preseason exhibitions in eight days, beginning with Friday's visit to the Wildcats

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 8/12/2021 4:11:00 PM

Bradley Soccer will kick off its 3-game preseason Friday when the Braves visit Big Ten Conference opponent Northwestern for a 7 p.m. exhibition. Bradley will continue its preseason schedule Aug. 17 by hosting Marquette in the annual Danny Dahlquist Memorial Game at Peoria Notre Dame High School, before visiting former Missouri Valley Conference rival Creighton Aug. 20.

GAME PREVIEW
Bradley Braves (0-0-0) at Northwestern Wildcats (0-0-0)
Date: Friday, Aug. 13, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Evanston, IL
Stadium: Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium
Tickets: Free admission
Live Coverage: N/A

SERIES HISTORY
Bradley leads, 6-1-0
• Although Friday's game will not count toward the official series record as an exhibition game, Bradley has won six of the seven meetings that have counted in the series history.
• The Braves are 3-0-0 all-time at Northwestern, most-recently sweeping a pair of overtime games during Bradley's 2013 NCAA Tournament season, both by 3-2 scores.
• The two programs first met Oct. 27, 1996 with Bradley earning a unique, 4-1 win in overtime at Northwestern.
• All seven games in the series history have been played during Jim DeRose's first 25 seasons as head coach.

OVERTIME HAT TRICK
• About that first meeting in 1996 🔽
• Bradley Athletics Hall of Famer Jim Rasmussen recorded a hat trick against the Wildcats, scoring all three goals in extra time.
• Rasmussen is believed to be the only player in collegiate soccer history to register an overtime-only hat trick.
• In that era of college soccer, overtime consisted of two, 15-minute periods that were played out in their entirety.

YOUNG BRAVES
• Bradley is expected to take the field Friday night with a 30-man roster that will feature 27 players who begin the season with at least three years of remaining collegiate eligibility.
• The squad breakdown includes:
    8️⃣ true freshmen
    9️⃣ COVID freshmen
    5️⃣ third-year freshmen (redshirts in '19, COVID '20)
    4️⃣ third-year sophomores (COVID '20)
    2️⃣ fourth-year sophomores (a redshirt + COVID '20)
    1️⃣ first-year junior
    1️⃣ second-year graduate transfer senior
• Of the 30 active student-athletes, only 16 have taken the field for the Braves, totaling 205 individual games played and 144 starts.
• Only five Braves have played in a traditional fall game for Bradley, combining for 71 individual fall games and 48 starts.
• None of the 30 active student-athletes have played more than one traditional fall season for the Braves.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Bradley will continue its 3-game exhibition season Tuesday by hosting Big East Conference foe Marquette for the annual Danny Dahlquist Memorial Game.
• Tuesday's exhibition will be played at Peoria Notre Dame High School, which served as Bradley's original home venue during the program's first three seasons (1987-89).
• Admission will be free for Tuesday night's contest, although donations to the Bradley University Danny Dahlquist Memorial Fund will be accepted throughout the game.

FOLLOW THE BRAVES
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