Bradley soccer went into the final two minutes of their home opener against Milwaukee clinging to a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers were desperate to tie the game and ready to pounce on any opportunity to do so.
In the 88th minute, Milwaukee had its golden chance. Deep in Braves territory, forward Fernando Pirry fired a shot towards the right side of the box, which looked primed to be the equalizer.
That was until senior goalkeeper Drew Berry stretched out and blocked the shot at the last second.
“The whole time I see the guy line up for the bike, and I’m just like, ‘no way this is going on frame,’ and he hit a very good strike,” Berry said. “It was just stressful. After I stopped it, I felt relief.”
It was Berry’s 11th and most important save of the day. The Panthers (0-2-1) did not get another chance at a goal, and Bradley (1-1-1) won their first game of the season.
War on Wisconsin
The match against Milwaukee was the Braves’ third consecutive game against a team from Wisconsin, but the two prior weren’t as successful.
Bradley began its season against Big East foe Marquette, tying 0-0 despite outshooting the Golden Eagles and playing with one more player after the 11th minute. The Braves controlled possession for most of the game and created a high volume of shots, but could not capitalize on their opportunities.
Then, on Sunday, the team traveled to Madison to face Wisconsin, losing 4-1. The Badgers were ultra-aggressive and used a high press to generate seven first-half shots, two of which they converted. In the second half, Bradley’s defense was better to start. The Braves held Wisconsin scoreless until the 73rd minute, but gave up their third goal on a penalty kick.
Senior forward Kevin Mejias responded with a score on a penalty kick to bring Bradley’s deficit back to two and the Braves pushed to get the game closer, but the Badgers scored again to seal their win and send Bradley back home to Peoria.
It was a tough loss, but the team learned a lot about itself against two opponents who frequently find themselves in the NCAA tournament.
“Since the Creighton game, the last exhibition of the preseason, we’ve played three talented teams,” head coach Tim Regan said. “Three teams that, year after year, put themselves in the top 50 in the country and are NCAA Tournament quality. We knew that and that’s what we want. We went there to challenge ourselves at the highest level we could early in the season and we put up a good fight.”
“We had moments of a combination of either lack of quality shots or short mental lapses that cost us goals, especially in the Wisconsin game,” Regan continued. “But we rallied from it, because four days later, we played the other team from the state, and the challenge was we needed to get over that and be prepared for the next one. The team was able to show that against Milwaukee.”
A goal to remember
In the first half of the game against the Panthers, the Braves controlled possession and created shots, but like in the previous games against their Wisconsin foes, they could not find the back of the net.
Luckily for Bradley, Berry was in the midst of one of the best games of his career, a stark contrast to his performance against Wisconsin days prior. The goalkeeper stifled each shot from Milwaukee and kept the game at 0-0.
“The confidence that I lost against Wisconsin, I gained that and then some today,” Berry said about his performance against Milwaukee. “It’s usually two or three bad moments as a goalkeeper. You take a bad touch or let in a bad shot from a distance. It can really defeat you. The game today really helped me build that confidence back.”
At the break, coach Regan challenged his team to stay aggressive in their attack and create more shots on goal.
“The challenge to the group was, ‘Can you do more?’” Regan said. “We know we needed more quality, but sometimes you need more effort and more attempts, and that’s what we’re continuing to try to do. The best players in the world score goals and make millions. Right now, we’re trying to find our way to get more chances to score more goals.”
Regan’s team responded immediately.
The Braves came out of the second half and placed immense pressure on the Panthers’ backline. Bradley got their first shot three minutes into the half, when junior forward DJ Koulai fired a shot between three defenders.
Koulai missed, but freshman forward Nökkvi Hjörvarsson secured the rebound, surveyed the field and fired a missile toward the right side of the net.
Milwaukee’s goalkeeper stretched out to stop the ball, but was too late and Hjörvarsson’s shot put Bradley on the board. The goal was the Iceland native’s first of his Bradley career and it was all the Braves needed to secure the win.
“DJ (Koulai) was dribbling the ball, and the defender intercepted his shot, and it came to me, and I just shot it,” Hjörvarsson said. “It was a great feeling. I am honored to score my first goal for Bradley.”
Hjörvarsson and the Braves will have an opportunity to score more goals and stop game-altering shots on Wednesday when they travel to Western Illinois to play the Leathernecks at 5 PM.
