Fort Wayne, IN - The Bradley Braves battled to a 1-1 draw against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
The Braves hit the road to Fort Wayne, IN to close out their stretch of playing four of their first five games ont he road to begin the 2025 season. As the match kicked off, the Braves wasted little time asserting control, utilizing a healthy dose of build-up play and possession. Fort Wayne, however, created the bulk of the chances in the first half, with three of their eight opportunities coming in the first 25 minutes. Bradley also generated opportunities, tallying six shots in the first half including the only goal before the break. Nokkvi Hjorvarsson connected on a strike that was redirected to Michael Switala, who finished the chance just feet from goal to give the Braves a 1-0 lead at halftime
The second half saw few more stoppages than the first with a total of three caution all to PFW, with both teams continuing to apply pressure.
Stephen Saladin,
Michael Switala,
DJ Koulai, and Dom Woolley each had attempts at goal in the second half, but Purdue Fort Wayne's defense did just enough to turn away each effort and stay in the match. That defensive grit paid off with less than 10 minutes remaining, as a strike from PFW's Christian Leon was saved by goalkeeper
Drew Berry but rebounded to Iann Topete, who finished from point-blank range to level the match at 1-1.
Both teams had one more chance to steal a late winner. Purdue Fort Wayne nearly scored a second, but their shot hit the top of the crossbar and stayed in play. Bradley had a late breakout opportunity with
Stephen Saladin and
Mitch Coughlon pushing forward. With only five seconds left, Saladin got a shot off from outside the 18-yard box, but such little time he was unable to get a clean strike on the ball as time expired.
With the draw, Bradley moves to 1-2-2 on the season. As for the Mastodons, they remain unbeaten and improve to 1-0-3 in 2025. The Braves return to action this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when they host Omaha.
