The Braves’ scoring woes continued this week as the Bradley men’s soccer team was shutout by both of its Missouri Valley Conference opponents.
Bradley hosted SIU-Edwardsville Saturday and held them scoreless the whole game but failed to score any goals of their own. Senior goalkeeper Logan Ketterrer helped salvage the draw with six saves.
“Logan had a great game,” head coach Jim DeRose said. “He made a couple great saves. He’s certainly been one of the few bright spots for us this year. A great goalkeeper can keep you in a lot of games, and he’s certainly done that this year.”
Bradley had some chances to win down the stretch in extra time, but they couldn’t manage to find the back of the net. Junior Jacob Taylor’s header off a corner kick had a shot to go in, but it was deflected and cleared by the Cougar defense.
“We had some chances on some set pieces, obviously figuring out how to score goals has been difficult for us,” DeRose said. “We had a last flurry there late. We were driving in the second overtime and were kind of hoping to get a set piece late. I think it’s a good result relative to what we’ve been combating this year. As long as we can put something in the good pile, we’ve defended pretty darn well, and did a good job giving up one or fewer goals in the last several games. You’ve just got to do that to give yourselves a chance, but if you can’t score you’re going to lose some games 1-0.”
Bradley then traveled to Iowa to face Drake Tuesday night. Once again, the Braves were kept off the board and couldn’t produce many scoring chances. Drake outshot Bradley 14-3 and held a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.
“Truth be told, a lot of their shots were from long range,” DeRose said. “The thing is not giving up 14; it’s only getting two. We’ve generated a lot of set pieces, not to mention long throws, and we really don’t have anything to show for it, and for a team that’s struggling to score goals through general attacking play, you’re going to have to get goals on set pieces, and we just haven’t done that.”
In the 69th minute, the Bulldogs took advantage of a re-directed corner kick, and Drake’s Ben May scored to take a 1-0 lead. Ketterrer tried his best to keep the Braves in the game with eight saves, which gave them a few chances to tie in the final minutes. However, Bradley couldn’t convert.
“We’ve tried a lot of different combinations, but it just hasn’t materialized for us with mixed personnel,” DeRose said. “The guys are trying, and right now for us it starts with getting shots. On average you need 10 shots to get a goal, so when you’re getting two, three or four, luck is probably going to be your only chance there.”
Bradley had two corner kicks in the final minute, but couldn’t get the ball past goalkeeper Darrin MacLeod. The Bulldogs earned a 1-0 victory, their first MVC win of the season.
Bradley’s search for its first MVC win continues as the Braves host Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. Saturday at Shea Stadium.
