Bradley will square off against its fourth straight team from the state of Illinois when it welcomes the Chicago State Cougars to town over Family Weekend. The Braves are coming off their third straight draw of the 2026 season after a hard-fought 1-1 finish against SIUE. The Cougars are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Eastern Illinois Panthers on their home field. Despite being in-state foes, this will be just the third all-time meeting between Chicago State and Bradley. Bradley leads the all-time series 2-0-0, with a 1-0-0 mark in Peoria.

The Bradley Braves
In what will be Bradley's final non-conference game before jumping into Missouri Valley Conference play, the Braves will be looking to maintain their unbeaten mark inside Shea Stadium. Through three home matches, the Braves are 1-0-2 and averaging nearly three goals per game at home. Bradley's offense has been a bright spot this season. Ahead of Saturday's matchup, Bradley ranks tied for first in the MVC in total goals and scoring efficiency, with 12 goals on 60 total shots.

Bradley extended its program record to four straight weeks with a player selected for an MVC weekly honor, with Mitch Coughlon being named the MVC Player of the Week in match week four. With Bradley's goal against SIUE, Connor Chester became the seventh different Brave to score a goal this season and is one of three Braves on the team to have recorded at least one goal and one assist on the year.

The Chicago State Cougars
In what has been an adversity-filled start to the season for Chicago State, the Cougars showed signs of improvement against Eastern Illinois, scoring their third goal of the season. Chicago State has faced some challenging opposition thus far, having already played nationally ranked Missouri State, Big East foe DePaul, and an upper-echelon Horizon League team in Milwaukee.

On the field, the Braves will likely have to find answers for No. 32 Alexander Mutalibov and No. 10 Bill Okiumu, who currently own two of Chicago State's three goals and account for more than half of the team's total shots this season. In goal, CSU has used two different keepers, with senior Bryant Garcia earning the start in the majority of their action. Through two games, Garcia has allowed seven goals on 18 shots faced while making eight saves. Chicago State is coached by Norris Howze, who is in his fifth season leading the Cougars program.

The match is set for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff from Shea Stadium in Peoria, IL, and will also be available for streaming on ESPN+. Fans are also encouraged to follow along on the Bradley Soccer social media accounts for live in-game updates.