Charleston, IL -- Bradley Soccer earned a 3-3 road draw against Eastern Illinois on Friday night!
The Bradley Braves recorded their fourth draw of the 2026 season following a high-scoring 3-3 clash against Eastern Illinois. In what proved to be a busy day for both goalkeepers, the first half was defined by 10-minute stretches of momentum.
Bradley's Mitch Coughlon started the match in a big way. Less than two minutes into the contest, Coughlon pressured the EIU goalkeeper, Dannenműeller Jeann-Pierre, stealing the ball from his feet and quickly sending a shot toward goal to open the scoring at 1-0.
The Panthers would respond, however. EIU didn't take long to find their stride, as 11 minutes later, Nolan Getzinger scored from the run of play off a feed from Shuto Ishikawa to level the game at 1-1. The home side wouldn't stop there. In the 24th minute, Misic Sergev collected his third goal of the season to put the Panthers ahead 2-1, with Keidin Green providing the assist.
Momentum would swing back in favor of the Braves before the end of the first half. After a series of dangerous runs and chances from Max Manzelman, Connor Chester, and Fjölnir Sigurjónsson, Bradley earned back-to-back corner kicks and made the most of them.
Sigurjónsson found a loose ball just north of the penalty area and sent a volley toward the back post, where a very opportunistic Luca Meyers-Richter was waiting. Meyers-Richter headed the ball home to level the game at 2-2 heading into the halftime break.
After a very warm first half that saw both sides feel the effects of the conditions, the second half welcomed both teams back to the field under cloud cover and with a renewed burst of energy.
It would be the Panthers who capitalized on the first opportunity of the second half. In the 55th minute, Keidin Green scored off the second assist of the game from Shuto Ishikawa, putting the Panthers back in front, 3-2.
The next 30 minutes of action saw both sides trade stretches of scoring chances as the physicality increased across the field. That pressure ultimately culminated in Bradley breaking through with a chance behind the EIU defense. Liam Healey put his body on the line, taking a hard collision to his upper body in the box and earning the Braves a penalty kick with just eight minutes remaining.
Mitch Coughlon stepped over the ball and delivered a strong strike into the back of the net, recording his fourth goal of the season and leveling the game once again.
Bradley would scratch and claw for a handful of additional chances through set pieces in the final few minutes, but ultimately came up empty. With the draw, Bradley moves to 1-1-4 on the season, while Eastern Illinois moves to 0-3-2.
Bradley will be back in action this coming Wednesday when the Braves head south to take on in-state foe SIUE. The game is set for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff from Ralph Korte Stadium and will be available for streaming on ESPN+. Fans can also tune into the Bradley Soccer social media accounts for live in-game updates!
