Looking to defend its conference tournament title, Bradley’s soccer team squared off against Evansville in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Wednesday night.
Things were not looking good for Bradley early.
Before the game even started, freshman Jacob Taylor went down with an ankle injury suffered in pregame warmups. Despite the sudden lineup switch, Bradley was able to knock off third-seeded Evansville 1-0.
Bradley’s lone goal came off the foot of junior Jason Lesch, who gave credit to his teammates for the goal and said they were the ones who did the majority of the work.
“Richard [Olsen] crossed it, [Christian] Okeke managed to get to it and head it back across,” Lesch said. “That made my job really simple, I just had to tap it in.”
Bradley’s defense made the 11th-minute goal stand. Goalkeeper Logan Ketterer said, like Lesch, his job was made much easier by his teammates.
“They were throwing numbers forward, but we defended well,” Ketterer said. “Countless times, we were just blocking shots and they made it easy for me.”
Even though Bradley’s defense was able to block shots in front of him, Ketterer still made seven saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season. Ketterer’s play in goal did not go unnoticed by head coach Jim DeRose.
“I think the most important thing about Logan is his confidence,” DeRose said. “You can hear him talking and not only did he make the great saves, he did the simple things. He controlled his game, he’s just been a great developing player. That’s what happens when you come to train everyday to get better.”
DeRose said he was happy with how his entire team played, especially coming off the 2-0 loss to Drake last Saturday.
“I’m proud of how everyone worked tonight,” DeRose said. “We got the first goal but I thought we were dangerous in the counter. In my opinion, we staved off the best attacking team in the Valley tonight…our back line was fantastic.”
The victory now means the team will face off tonight at 6 p.m. against the tournament’s second seed, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
The Braves traveled to Edwardsville to face the Cougars in early October and lost 2-0 with both Edwardsville goals coming in the first half.
Despite entering the tournament as the sixth seed, DeRose knows the host Braves still have a shot at the title.
“As long as you’re still playing, you’ve got a chance,” DeRose said. “Our kids are still playing, and we’re excited.”
