Season's First Road Trip

Bradley Soccer will hit the road for the first time during the 2021 regular season by visiting Wright State Thursday night

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 8/31/2021 7:57:00 AM

After opening its 35th NCAA Division I season with a 1-0 win against Omaha last Thursday night at Shea Stadium, Bradley Soccer (1-0-0) will hit the road for the first time during the 2021 regular season this Thursday by visiting Wright State (0-2-0).

GAME PREVIEW
Bradley Braves (1-0-0) at Wright State Raiders (0-2-0)
Date: Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Dayton, OH
Venue: Alumni Field at Rinzler Student Sports Complex
Tickets: $5.
Live Coverage: Live Stats

SHOOTING FOR TWO STRAIGHT
• Coming off the 1-0 win to start the season last Thursday against Omaha, Bradley is shooting for its second straight win to start the 2021 season.
• Bradley has not started a season with two straight wins since the 2013 NCAA Tournament season, when the Braves won the season-opening Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic with a 1-0 wins against New Hampshire and UMass at Shea Stadium.
• Bradley has not factored a road result into a 2-0-0 start to the season since the 2011 NCAA Tournament season, when the Braves opened the year with three straight wins, beginning with a 4-1 victory at #21 Butler and a 1-0 win at IPFW.

SERIES HISTORY
4th Meeting | Wright State leads 2-1-0
• While Thursday's game represents the fourth meeting in the all-time series, Bradley and Wright State have not met on the pitch since a 1-0 Braves win Oct. 31, 1993 at Becker Park.
• None of the student-athletes from either squad, nor Bradley assistant coach Alec Koski, were born the last time the two teams met 28 seasons ago.
• Wright State won the first two series meetings on neutral fields - 1-0 in 1990 at Miami (OH) and 2-0 in 1992 at Dayton.

POSITIVE VIBES
• One game is not a guarantee in either direction, but winning the season-opener has proven to be a sign of good things to follow more often than not in Bradley Soccer history.
• Thursday's 1-0 win against an Omaha squad that reached the second round of the 2021 spring NCAA Tournament, gives Bradley a 22-9-4 (.686) all-time record in season-openers, including a 20-4-2 (.808) record in the starting games under 26th-year head coach Jim DeRose.
• In the 22 seasons Bradley has won its season opener, the Braves have gone on to win at least 10 games in that season 14 times and finished with at least a .500 record in 15 seasons.
• In the 13 seasons Bradley lost or drew its season-opener, however, the team has finished that season below .500 nine times.

GAINING EXPERIENCE
• With only two upperclassmen by eligibility on the entire squad, Bradley's roster does not include a single student-athlete who has played more than one traditional, fall season for the Braves.
• Of the 15 players to see the field in Thursday's season-opening win against Omaha, graduate goalkeeper Bryce Logan made his fall Bradley debut after transferring from Washington, junior Pepe Mellado played in his first NCAA game after transferring from a Spanish college and the remaining 13 players included redshirt sophomore Malte Winkler, four COVID sophomores, two redshirt freshmen, five COVID freshmen and true freshman Michael Rogalski.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK NOMINEE
Jake Schoffstall, Bradley, Fr., D, Palatine, IL (William Fremd HS)
• Schoffstall came off the bench to score his first career game-winning goal, lifting the Braves to a 1-0 win against Omaha in the season-opener for both teams Thursday night at Shea Stadium.
• A "super" freshman who contributed a goal and two assists from his starting back position in the abbreviated 2021 spring season, Schoffstall delivered a nifty toe-poke in traffic to complete a free kick sequence in the 71st minute – Jack Douglas rifled a 35-yard blast off the crossbar and Patrick Fishburne headed the rebound from the top of the penalty area back to the 6-yard box, where Schoffstall split two Mavericks with a right-footed flick for the winner.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK NOMINEE
Bryce Logan, Bradley, Gr., GK, Bellingham, WA (Mt. Baker HS)
• Logan came up huge early as the young Bradley team got its footing and finished the night with four saves to complete the clean sheet in Bradley's 1-0 win against Omaha in the season-opener for both teams Thursday night at Shea Stadium.
• Facing nine shots in the first half, Logan made a pair of quality saves against Omaha's early pressure and finished the half with three of his four saves on the night.
• The reigning MVC Goalkeeper of the Year earned his second career shutout as a Brave and the graduate transfer from Washington now boasts 10.0 career shutouts.

LOOKING AHEAD
• After heading west back to Peoria from Dayton, the Braves will continue west to Tulsa, OK for a Labor Day matchup Monday at Oral Roberts.
• Monday's game at Oral Roberts will represent the final non-conference road tilt of the 2021 season.
• The Braves will host consecutive non-conference home games Sept. 10 against DePaul and Sept. 12 versus Utah Valley, before starting the 10-game MVC double round-robin schedule Sept. 18 at Drake.

FOLLOW THE BRAVES
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