Bradley soccer players woke up on Saturday excited.
It was homecoming weekend, and the Braves (3-6-1, 0-3 MVC) were set to play conference rival Evansville (5-5-1, 1-2 MVC). As the players arrived at Shea Stadium and began to warm up, fans rolled in, filling the stands and giving Bradley a much-needed home-field advantage.
Saturday’s game was one of the most important for the Braves. In addition to the match occurring during homecoming weekend, Bradley was in the midst of a four-game losing streak and in danger of starting 0-3 in conference play.
Unfortunately, the Braves couldn’t capitalize on the added energy from a sold-out crowd and fell to the Purple Aces 2-0 due to defensive lapses at crucial moments.
“We were excited for the game the entire day,” senior captain Charlie Dickerson said. “The energy was really high. The motivation to go out and get a win was really high.”
“Stepping out on the field to a fanbase as big as Bradley’s on homecoming is really nice,” Dickerson added. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the results we wanted, and the feeling changed completely.”
A million-dollar start, ten percent finish
Bradley has started games very well this season, usually with high energy, aggressiveness and focus. However, the Braves haven’t maintained that level of play throughout 90 minutes, and the match versus Evansville was no different.
For the first 25 minutes of the game, Bradley attacked the Purple Aces defense, registering four shots with two on goal, but could not find the net.
“We haven’t had a better attacking performance to start a game than we had tonight,” head coach Tim Regan said. “[We had] the most opportunities in and around the goal, the most chances to shoot, the most chances to cross and the most chances to create set pieces.”
Evansville capitalized on the Braves’ misses in the 25th minute when graduate defender Tobias Bak scored on a shot that Dickerson attempted to deflect. Bak’s shot was headed toward junior goalkeeper Drew Berry’s arms, but Dickerson unintentionally knocked the ball into the goal.
It’s the second such error due to a lack of communication this season between a defender and a goalie.
“I started to backpedal as I saw the ball traveling,” Dickerson said. “I tried to get ahead of the ball, and I got some contact on the shot, but not enough to steer it off, so it went straight into the back of our net.”
“The communication wasn’t there from us,” Dickerson added. “The momentum of a game is super fast. You don’t have much time to talk through it. It’s challenging to communicate, but we must be brave enough to say something and hope the information we pass on is enough.”
After the Purple Aces scored, the Braves continued to stay on the attack but could not score in the first period.
Double or nothing
At halftime, Regan gave his players a call to action.
“I told them we had to push,” Regan said. “Push for a goal, but be smart not to concede, because 2-0 is tough to come back from.”
“When we went in at half, it was positive,” Dickerson added. “We knew that we were creating loads of chances, and we knew that they would give us those same chances in the second half. Regan told us that the next goal was the important one.”
Bradley came out of halftime determined to tie the game and give the crowd something to cheer about, but Evansville had other plans.
In the 48th minute, senior forward Edward Mendy dribbled past the Brave’s defense and scored from the right corner, giving the Purple Aces a 2-0 lead.
The goal took away any momentum Bradley gained at halftime, and despite their efforts to even the score, the Braves suffered a fifth straight loss.
“It’s deflating,” Dickerson said. “It‘s deflating for all of us… but we stick together as a team. We know that we’ll come back together.”
“Right now [morale] is low,” Regan said. “It should be low; we’re on a five-game losing streak. The only way to improve it is during the training week and next weekend in Nashville.”
Bradley looks to return to the win column on the road versus Belmont on Saturday, likely playing for its season.
“It’s up to us,” Dickerson said. “What do we want to do with the conference? It’s on us to decide what we do with the rest of our season. We must stay strong together if we want anything from our season.”
