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Soccer takes homecoming game, but splits weekend

Sophomore defender Jacob Taylor goes up to challenge a Rambler player for a header during the Braves’ 1-0 homecoming win against Loyola Sept. 25. Photo by Anna Foley.
Sophomore defender Jacob Taylor goes up to challenge a Rambler player for a header during the Braves’ 1-0 homecoming win against Loyola Sept. 25. Photo by Anna Foley.

Senior defender J.T. Kotowski has a strong case for Homecoming King.

The Scout Sports desk offers its sincere apologies to reigning Homecoming King Mitch Kuldell, but Kotowski has a point.

“I think there should be a revote,” Kotowski said.

The Keller, Texas native sent a penalty kick to the back of the net on homecoming night against Loyola-Chicago to secure the Braves’ first conference victory of the year, 1-0.

The Braves got the call in the 89th minute on an attacking chance in the penalty box, when the Ramblers got called for a handball. This prompted the penalty shot and the game-winning goal.

“It’s Homecoming, we had 1,000 fans out here, it was awesome [and] a great atmosphere,” Kotowski said. “We wanted something for them, and coach put me on it so he had faith in me. [That] gave me a little boost, and I put it in.”

Assistant coach Brian Burnett, who was the acting head coach for the game as head coach Jim DeRose was serving a one-game suspension for a red card he received against UNLV, said the team’s halftime adjustments were key to why the Braves were Homecoming heroes.

“I think one of the things we were able to do [was] reinforce the gameplan at halftime and talked to our players about not allowing them to play in behind our midfield line, in front of our back line and combine from there,” Barnett said. “We frustrated them, which got them into playing a little bit longer balls, and that’s not what they want to do.”

Barnett also noted how Shea Stadium played a factor for the Braves, who played in front of a Homecoming crowd of 1,517.

“Shea Stadium is a place that teams can’t come and win,” Barnett said. “It cannot be easy for them to come play here and we’re doing that.”

However, Barnett also talked about how the Braves need to win away from Shea Stadium.

“This team does need to learn to win on the road,” Barnett said. “They do need to go and win some big games on the road, and I think there’s a lot of things that play on why that hasn’t happened.”

Although the Braves won in spectacular fashion, the Homecoming celebration was short lived.

Two days later, the Braves faced Air Force Academy at Shea and were blanked by the visiting Falcons.
The Braves were on the losing end of the fifth 1-0 score at Shea Stadium, as the Falcons scored the first goal at Shea this season.

That goal snapped a four-game home shutout streak by Logan Ketterer, which was tied for second all-time in home shutout streaks.

DeRose said the team suffered a setback before the game even started, as defender Grayson McGraw was scratched from the starting lineup with a bruised knee.

Air Force took advantage of the lacking defense as Falcon forward Zach Hill punched through the defense and beat Ketterer for a goal in the 73rd minute, which proved to be the winning score.

“First half, I thought we were very good,” DeRose said. “[Air Force] pushed the tempo in the second half and we tried to keep in fresh with some players, but they did a great job in not giving us much on the night and they defended our set pieces well.”

Even with the lack of offense paining the team, DeRose was adamant that these games are the ones the Braves need to win.

“[The] Bradley Braves need to win a game like this regardless of the situation,” DeRose said. “I applaud us for getting tighter and defensively better, but like I said, this is a game the Bradley Braves have won in the past and need to win if they want to put more [MVC Championships up].”

The loss dropped the Braves to 4-5 with one more game left in their three-game home stand, which ends tonight against Gonzaga.

“Gonzaga will be a very good team,” DeRose said. “They’ve already knocked off a nationally ranked team, and they’ll be good. We’ll need some time to recover.”

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