The Bradley men’s soccer team traveled to Omaha Sept. 19 to take on one of the nation’s top scoring teams and left with a broken heart from an intense game that lasted just one second too long.
The Mavericks scored the game-winning golden goal in the second overtime at 109:59, the last second of the game, to win 3-2.
“When you play this game long enough, you’re gonna have games that you win with no time left and games that you lose with no time left,” head coach Jim DeRose said.
Omaha opened up the scoring in the 27th minute with a goal on a chip-in to the far post. Freshman Austin Bell answered in the 40th minute to tie the game up. Omaha tried to clear the ball out of their zone, but sophomore Jacob Taylor was able to head the ball to senior Grant Bell. Grant Bell passed to Austin Bell (no relation), who wrapped it in the far post for the goal.
The freshman Austin Bell started the game for the Braves, as they were without Andrew Kovacavic, Richard Olsen and captian Andrew Brown due to injury.
“It was a spot start for [Austin Bell] due to injuries, and he did great,” DeRose said. “I was happy with his effort on both sides of the ball.”
Grant Bell was able to put the Braves ahead 2-1 with his first goal of the season early in the second half. The Mavericks played the ball back to their goalkeeper, and Bell chased down the ball and put it in the net.
“99 out of 100 times, the goalkeeper gets that ball,” DeRose said. “It was the ultimate hustle play.”
Omaha netted a goal in the 87th minute to tie the game.
The game went into overtime at 2-2. However, neither team was able to net the game-winner in the extra period, which led to a second overtime.
One second before the game was called a tie in the second overtime, Omaha sent in a desperation ball from the corner that was chested into the net to win the game.
“Omaha is the best team we’ve played this year, without question,” DeRose said. “Although we were missing some key players, I thought that we battled and I was proud of the effort. Unfortunately, it’s a 110 minute game and not 109:59.”
The difference in shots was the story of the game. Omaha got off 37 shots on the Braves to Bradley’s 11, the most by a Bradley opponent in 25 years.
Junior goalkeeper Logan Ketterer had a career-high 10 saves for the Braves, but DeRose said the shots didn’t concern Ketterer much.
“I wasn’t that concerned about the shot total because many of those shots weren’t actually scoring chances,” DeRose said. “There were shots that wouldn’t have gone in a 40 foot net.”
The Braves moved to 3-4 with the loss. More specifically, Bradley is 0-4 on the road and 3-0 at home, with conference play coming up.
“We’re not at a spot where we feel like we should be,” senior defender J.T. Kotowski said. “We’re below .500, we definitely feel like we should’ve had some results go a different way.”
However, DeRose said he thinks his team is ready.
“We’ve seen everything we need to see with this group,” DeRose said. “The dominant teams, the national powers, the best teams in the nation. Even with the injuries, we should be able to move forward with better results.”
The Braves take on Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) rival Loyola-Chicago at home tonight at 7 p.m. for the Homecoming game.
There will be a pre-game tailgate and fireworks after the match, as the Braves will look get revenge on the Ramblers from last season.’
“It’s going to be another ball game starting Friday, and I think we all realize that,” Kotowski said. “We’re really looking forward to getting back at Loyola after a loss last year, especially in front of a big homecoming crowd.”
