Preseason Finale at Creighton

Bradley Soccer will close out its busy preseason schedule by visiting former MVC rival Creighton Friday night

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 8/19/2021 12:00:00 PM

Bradley Soccer will close out its busy preseason schedule by visiting former Missouri Valley Conference rival Creighton Friday night at Morrison Stadium. The exhibition against the Bluejays will be Bradley's third preseason exhibition in eight days in advance of next week's season-opener against Omaha.

GAME PREVIEW
Bradley Braves (0-0-2 preseason) at Creighton Bluejays (1-0-1 preseason)
Date: Friday, Aug. 20, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Omaha, NE
Stadium: Morrison Stadium
Tickets: $4 - Buy Online
Live Coverage: N/A

PRESEASON RECAP
• Friday's exhibition at Creighton will be Bradley's third preseason game in eight days, following draws last Friday at Northwestern (0-0) and Tuesday against Creighton's Big EAST rival Marquette (1-1) in the 12th Danny Dahlquist Memorial Game.
• The lone goal surrendered by the Braves in the first two exhibitions came on a 45th-minute penalty kick Tuesday by Marquette.
• Freshman keeper Lucas Fontana saved the initial PK with a dive toward the right post, but the rebound came right back to the shooter, Lucas Sunneson, who was able to head the ball back into the top left corner for the game's equalizer.
• Graduate keeper Bryce Logan has started each of the first two exhibitions, but has not really been threatened as the Braves have maintained their discipline in the defensive third.
• Sophomore midfielder Rasmus Smidtslund netted the game's first goal Tuesday by finishing in traffic off a set piece and he banged the crossbar off another set piece in last week's preseason opener at Northwestern.

SERIES HISTORY
Creighton leads, 25-7-1
• Although Friday's exhibition officially will not count toward the all-time series history, Creighton remains one of the most-common opponents in Bradley Soccer history.
• The former Missouri Valley Conference rivals first met in a pre-MVC men's soccer matchup Sept. 28, 1990 and faced off 32 more times overall as conference foes until Creighton's departure to the Big EAST following the 2012-13 season.
• While the teams have not renewed the rivalry in regular-season play, they remain fairly common exhibition opponents and have twice met in the fall preseason in Peoria - a 3-0 Creighton win in 2015 and a 1-1 draw in 2019.
• The Creighton series remains the fourth most-played series in Bradley Soccer history, trailing only current Valley rivals Drake (48), Missouri State (41) and Evansville (34).

VALLEY TITLES
• The Bradley-Creighton rivalry was all about Missouri Valley Conference championships at the time of Creighton's departure to the Big EAST in 2013.
• From 2005 to 2012, Bradley and Creighton combined to win 14 of The Valley's 16 regular-season and tournament championships in those eight seasons.
• The two teams entered that final regular-season matchup Oct. 20, 2012 in the top two positions in the MVC standings and with their 1-0 win, the Bluejays took control of the MVC race en route to a sweep of the league's regular-season and tourney titles in their final year of Valley membership.

YOUNG BRAVES PICKED FIFTH IN THE VALLEY
• Bradley enters the 2021 season with 29 active student-athletes on the men's soccer roster, including 27 players who begin the season with at least three years of remaining college eligibility.
• The two exceptions to the three-years-of-eligibility status are midfielder Pepe Mellado, a first-year junior from Spain, and graduate keeper Bryce Logan, who transferred to Bradley for the 2020-21 COVID season.
• Of the other 27 student-athletes on the roster, only 15 have ever taken the field for the Braves in a regular-season game and only four have played in a traditional fall game for Bradley.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Bradley officially will open its 35th NCAA Division I season Aug. 26 by hosting Omaha at Shea Stadium.
• Thursday's season-opener adds to the Creighton flavor of the week as the Mavericks now are led by former Bluejays head coach and Creighton Hall-of-Famer, Bob Warming.
• As Bradley opens the 2021 season, there are no capacity restrictions for games at Shea Stadium and the popular tailgate lot once again will be open this year.
• Following the opener against Omaha, Bradley will play road games Sept. 2 at Wright State and Sept. 6 at Oral Roberts, before returning home to host DePaul Sept. 10 and Utah Valley Sept. 12 in its final non-conference tuneups.

FOLLOW THE BRAVES
For complete coverage of Bradley Soccer, please follow the Braves on social media at @BradleySoccer (Twitter), /BradleySoccerAlumni (Facebook) and @bradleybravessoccer (Instagram) or visit the official home of Bradley Athletics at BradleyBraves.com. To receive the latest news on Bradley Soccer directly in your inbox, sign up for eNews in the Fan Zone.

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