The Bradley soccer team continued its promising start to the season with two wins last weekend. The Braves (3-1) started their weekend with a dominant win versus Western Illinois (1-2-1) and closed with a last-second victory against Purdue Fort Wayne (1-2).
Continued dominance
Bradley’s soccer team has dominated Western Illinois recently. Heading into Thursday’s matchup, the Braves had held the Leathernecks scoreless in the previous two matchups and hadn’t lost to Western Illinois since 2015.
“If you analyzed the last two matchups and didn’t view the games, the stat categories are relatively even,” head coach Tim Regan said. “We’ve just been better in the most important part of soccer: finishing around the goal. It was the same last year. They’ve had excellent scoring chances; we’re just better with ours.”
Bradley created scoring chances early and often versus the Leathernecks. The Braves combined high energy, focus and crisp passing to control the ball and generate shots at the goal.
Their efforts led to a goal in the 11th minute from senior Charlie Dickerson, who rebounded a shot from graduate student Elias Benitez Saiz.
After taking a 1-0 lead, Bradley stayed on the attack and constantly pressured on the backline of the Western Illinois defense. Their second goal came seconds before the half ended when sophomore Ethan Beauman-Ansah delivered a beautiful lead pass to sophomore DJ Koulai, who then dished the ball to senior Francesco Pettinarooli in stride for the score.
The Braves took the momentum from their last-second goal into halftime, feeling confident that the game was in their control; however, they knew they could not risk complacency in the second half.
“It was one to zero up until really close to halftime, but the way we got that goal really helped the momentum,” junior Alex Grow said. “I think there was a little lull after we got that first goal. Coach Regan saw that and talked to us about it. The mentality was to rebound from that and get our focus back.”
“Coach was really happy we got that goal before halftime,” Grow added. “He wanted us to keep that momentum going.”
Coughlon makes his presence known
Bradley opened the second half with several substitutions, but none more pivotal than sophomore forward Mitch Coughlon. As Coughlon entered the game, he and his teammates heeded their coach’s message and kept their foot on the gas.
“My mentality coming into the game was to go out there and run them down into the ground,” Coughlon said. “I wanted to put our opponents under as much pressure as possible and ensure we kept our two-goal advantage. We knew the next goal would be massive and would pretty much win the game.
The Braves were in sync. They defended together and used communication and connective passing in their attacks. The team shared Coughlon’s mentality as he led the way and scored two goals in the 50th and 61st minutes.
“Being able to score the third and fourth goals not only made me happy but the team a bit more positive,” Coughlon said. “I was able to help give the team some leeway and help our players relax a little.”
The two goals were the first of Coughlon’s career at Bradley, making him the first player since Cal Somov in 2022 to score his first two goals in a single contest.
After taking the 4-0 lead, Bradley relaxed and played a few players who often do not receive much playing time.
Western Illinois, in need of a miraculous comeback in the final 30 minutes of the game, outshot Bradley, but couldn’t create the necessary opportunities at the goal and snapped their losing streak versus the Braves.
It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done
Bradley had a day’s rest before returning to Shea Stadium on Saturday for a game against Purdue Fort Wayne, which was drastically different from the one before.
For starters, the match versus the Mastodons was more physical and defensive. Both teams struggled to create on-goal looks throughout the first half, and at halftime, the game was tied at zero.
“Purdue Fort Wayne had a lot of older players,” Grow said. “They didn’t have many first- or second-year students. When you’re playing against older guys, they may not be more talented, but they manage the game better.”
“They had some chances,” Grow continued. “They were able to create some stuff on goal, but it wasn’t very threatening.”
Threatening or not, Grow stifled any hopes the Mastodons had at a goal, finishing with six saves while the remaining Braves defense held Purdue Fort Wayne scoreless.
“It was a great defensive performance,” Grow said. “A lot of the saves I made weren’t pretty. They won’t end up on a highlight reel, but goalkeeping [is] about repetition.”
“The stats show they had many more shots on target, but we think our chances were just as dangerous as theirs,” Grow added.
Bradley found their chance in the 87th minute when Coughlon found himself in position to score his third goal of the season and gave the Braves a 1-0 lead.
Coughlon leads the team in goals so far this season despite playing only 89 minutes in four games.
“Our group is well-rounded,” Regan said. “They compliment each other and set each other up well. Mitch has been the prime receiver so far. He’s getting really good passes from his teammates. He’s been in the perfect position and has been executing. That is really difficult to do.”
“My confidence level definitely has gone up,” Coughlon added. “[There’s] obviously a lot of soccer left, but the team has been on similar wavelengths. We’ve been attacking hard. We’ve been hard to play against. There’s a lot more work to be done.”
Bradley soccer will return to work on the road on Thursday against Xavier, which looks to be a tough challenge for the team.
