Caden Frank had never scored a goal at Bradley entering their matchup against Olivet Nazarene.
The senior forward struggled to get playing time through his first three years with the Braves, playing just 23 minutes in his career ahead of the game against the Tigers.
But trailing late, Frank became Bradley’s unlikely hero to avoid an upset loss.
With just over three minutes left in the match, sophomore Beshoy Eldaif played the ball into the box off a free kick as the Braves were desperate for an equalizer.
After taking a bounce, Frank found himself in front of the net with the ball right behind him. The only option was to backheel the ball and hope it went in.
That’s exactly what happened.
Frank ran over to his team’s sideline in celebration as Bradley snapped their three game losing streak.
“I mean, it’s really special to me,” Frank said. “I’ve been through a lot here – injuries, a lot of things. I went into the game, and I just tried to make an impact. So we got a set piece, and the ball fell to me. It really means a lot for me to score.”
Frank’s goal capped off a late Braves rally, which saw them erase a 2-0 halftime deficit in the final 15 minutes to earn their sixth draw of the season.
“We just had a bit of low energy when we started the game,” Frank said. “We weren’t stepping up, we gave up shots, and in the second half, some changes were made, and we came back.”
Though they are an NAIA side, Olivet Nazarene is about as good of a team that can be found at that level.
The Tigers entered Shea Stadium ranked second in the men’s NAIA poll and had won eight of their 10 matches this season without recording a loss.
Bradley seemed to have control of the game through the first 10 minutes of the contest, but they weren’t able to get a quality chance to the net.
The Tigers flipped the game when sophomore midfielder Atjon Thaqi scored a screamer from 40 yards out to take the lead just over 12 minutes into action.
Olivet Nazarene controlled the remainder of the half and found a second goal with just 40 seconds to play before the break off of a header.
“They were really technical on the ball, and their midfield played really well that half,” freshman forward Braden Missey said. “They were super smart on and off the ball, their movements were hard to pick up in certain areas.”
The Tigers then changed up almost their entire lineup after halftime, including introducing a new goalkeeper into the game. Still, they held their two goal advantage for the first half hour.
Bradley thought they had gotten one back with 16 minutes left to play off leading goalscorer Mitch Coughlon, but he was ruled offside in the build up to keep the score at 2-0.
That moment seemed to be the spark the Braves needed, though, as sophomore midfielder Connor Chester would knock in a cross from a free kick to cut the deficit in half.
Moments later, Frank scored his goal to escape the game with a draw.
With a matchup against former Missouri Valley Conference rival and nationally ranked Missouri State up next, Bradley will look to carry the momentum built from their comeback.
“We have a very difficult game next, but scoring those two late goals proves to ourselves that we can come back from anything and get a result,” Frank said.
“I think it’s going to be a huge boost of confidence for the guys.”
