After dropping a game against No. 9 Missouri State and then tying with Loyola, the Bradley soccer team ended a three-game homestand on Oct. 27 with a 1-0 victory over Valparaiso.
The win moved Bradley to an overall record of 5-5-4 and a conference record of 4-3-2.
Officially only the second time seeing Valparaiso this season, Sunday’s game was the makeup of the rained-out game on Sept. 29 in Peoria. That contest was abandoned just four minutes shy of being considered a full game in the 66th minute.
Both teams had a strong defensive showing, with the Braves only allowing four shots on goal. The Crusaders, on the other hand, had a bit of a tougher time being bombarded by the Braves’ 12 shots, seven of which were on goal.
The key to Valparaiso’s defense was freshman goalkeeper Edvin Holst. Holst recorded six saves.
“I watched their keeper make two of the best saves I have seen in a while,” DeRose said. “Three of the [saves] were nothing short of spectacular.”
Offensively, the lone goal came in the 66th minute of the game. Sophomore forward Nick Feeney made a long throw in to senior defender Jacob McKee who flicked the ball back to redshirt-senior defender Walid Kherat for a header into the back of the net.
“Sometimes you have to run the same run 10 times in order to get a result and that’s what [Kherat] did.” DeRose said.
Kherat’s performance this past week has earned him a spot on CollegeSoccerNews.com’s National Team of the Week and was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week. He played a key defensive role last week in the shutout against Loyola and Sunday, not to mention his decisive goal.
The win moves the Braves to 14 points in the Valley. Unlike most American sports, soccer uses a points system similar to hockey to determine its standings. In soccer, a win gives a team three points in the standings, a tie rewards each team one point and a loss results in zero points.
Bradley’s 14 points put them in second place behind Missouri State, who have clinched the first seed with 21 points and just ahead of Drake with 13 points.
Bradley and Drake both have one game left in conference play, while the rest of the Valley has three. The race for second is very important and currently closely contested. In the new Valley format, the top two teams earn byes into the semifinal round. Loyola is right on the tails of both Bradley and Drake with 12 points.
Looking ahead, the Braves start a two-game non-conference road trip on Friday before finishing their regular season at home versus Evansville Nov. 9.
“It’s natural to think to rest people right now,” DeRose said. “Right now moving forward it’s the teams riding momentum that do well going in [to the conference tournament]. Some of these guys will get some minutes, it will all be in the context of winning games and building momentum.”
Bradley will travel to Highland Heights, Kentucky to face Northern Kentucky. The game is scheduled to kickoff tonight at 6.
