The Bradley men’s soccer team kicked off a three game homestand over the weekend with two closely contested games against No. 14 Missouri State and Loyola. The two results move its record to 4-5-4 overall and 3-3-2 in the Valley.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, the Braves fell to the nationally ranked Missouri State Bears, 2-1.
Offensively, the Braves would get the upper hand quickly in the first half. Redshirt-senior Jha’lon Johnson scored a penalty kick in the 25th minute, his first of the season.
Defensively, Bradley could not hold back the pressure. Missouri State bombarded the Brave’s defense with 14 shots throughout the game. With only a few minutes left in the first half, Bears’ senior Mathew Bentley tied the game off a rebound from senior Bradley goalkeeper Nathan Wisbey.
In the second half, the Braves held off the Bears offense, keeping them to six shots. It also managed to get four shots of their own. The deciding goal would come in the 80th minute from Missouri State junior Greg Stratton.
Head coach Jim DeRose was optimistic, despite the loss.
“We went into halftime [and] tweaked a couple things tactically, I thought we responded pretty well,” DeRose said. “They’re a great team, there is a reason why they are where they are. “
Missouri State still is the only undefeated Missouri Valley team, and more impressively, the only in Division I. The win over Bradley moved them up five spots in the national rankings.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Bradley faced off against Loyola, continuing its three-game homestand. That game would end in a scoreless draw after 20 minutes of extra time, matching the score from the first time meeting this season September 25.
Bradley continued what seems to be the story of its season. Throughout the game, it showed a strong presence in the midfield while absorbing all of Loyola’s offensive pressure on the back line.
However, offensively the Braves continued to struggle. It would only manage four shots on goal throughout the entire game, all of which came in the second half. Of those four shots, only two were on goal, compared to Loyola’s 12 shots, four of which were on goal.
A key to dealing with Loyola’s offensive pressure was in Wisbey’s performance. He made four saves throughout the game, including one very important save in the second half of overtime. The tie would mark his Valley leading sixth shutout of the season.
DeRose was once again optimistic, despite not coming away with three points.
“[The Ramblers] haven’t lost a game since we tied them,” DeRose said. “[Wisbey] made some key saves, we played with a lot of will and a lot of fight.”
DeRose also touched on their offensive struggles not being too much of a focus.
“Of course we want to be better in the final third but not at the cost of conceding goals,” DeRose said.
The Braves wrap up their homestand Sunday in a make-up game against Valparaiso. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Shea Stadium.
