Bradley soccer had a chance to achieve a feat they hadn’t reached since 2022 in Friday night’s game against Evansville.
Secure a place in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Entering the night sitting in sixth place, all the Braves needed was to win or draw one of their final two games, or have Drake tie or lose, to secure a postseason spot.
By halftime, it was clear that Bradley would not be controlling their destiny on Friday night.
Three goals from the Aces in the first half left the Braves in a hole that was too deep to climb out of. A stagnant second half of play kept the final result at 3-0.
Simultaneously in Des Moines, the Bulldogs took on the UIC Flames in what was their final contest of the regular season.
When the final whistle blew at Shea Stadium, that game was still scoreless with about five minutes to play. Bradley, as it stood, would be heading to the playoffs.
But that’s not where it would stay.
Drake scored a winning goal with 2:32 to play in their game, bumping the Braves out of the playoffs with one game to play.
If Bradley wants to get back into the playoffs, they have to win or draw at Western Michigan.
“The game will look different against Western Michigan,” Bradley head coach Tim Regan said. “They’re going to be aggressive, so we’ll have to match it.”
Evansville scored their first goal on an impressive shot from well outside the box and capitalized on two Braves’ errors later into the first half to get their second and third goals on that night.
“Credit to that first goal, that was an incredible strike,” Regan said. “But it starts with an error on our part and then an inability to make up for the error. Someone else has to step up and make the play, and they did that better than us.”
Bradley had a few chances to score in the second half, as did the Aces, but neither side could add a goal in what turned out to be an uneventful final 45 minutes of play.
“We were just a little bit off in the box when we got the ball in there,” Regan said. “We had a couple of headers in and around the goal that were moments where we usually do better, we were just off tonight.”
As for their final game against the Broncos, Regan knows they’ll have to be committed on defense and set pieces if they want to extend their season.
“A shutout advances us into the postseason.”
