With a possible shot at the No. 2 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on the line, Bradley successfully defended Shea Stadium on Saturday, defeating Evansville 2-1.
The victory moved the Braves to a final regular season record of 7-6-4.
Evansville scored first in the 17th minute via a header from Ethan Garvey. Garvey received the cross via a corner kick from Jesse Stafford-Lacey.
One minute after, Bradley equalized the game at 1-1 in the 18th minute. Junior Gerit Wintermeyer broke away from defenders and was then fouled by senior goalkeeper Frederik Reimer. Reimer was shown a red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity and was ejected. Wintermeyer converted the penalty kick.
In the first half, Bradley only managed two shots to Evansville’s five. In the second, the Braves had a much more dominating second half, putting up six shots. They also took control of the midfield with more possession of the ball throughout the half.
The game-winning goal came late in the 81st minute. Senior Jack Lang crossed the ball to the opposite side of the goal allowing for Wintermeyer to tap the ball in for his seventh goal of the season.
Head coach Jim DeRose touched on the team having a man advantage for most the game.
“The biggest thing that helped us was them being a man down,” DeRose said. “Despite that, credit to Evansville, they battled and completed the whole game.”
With the early win on Saturday, the Braves were in position to take the No. 2 seed. Unfortunately for Bradley, Loyola would secure the first-round bye with a 3-0 win over Valparaiso dropping Bradley down to No. 3.
This sets up the Braves to face off against Evansville once again for the opening round of the MVC Tournament today.
Looking forward to their second match-up in less than a week, DeRose said he knows what to expect.
“Throw Saturday’s game out the window, whether [Evansville] won one game or not it doesn’t matter come tournament time,” DeRose said. “They will be healthier and inspired.”
Wintermeyer also touched on his performance while looking ahead to playing Evansville once again.
“Scoring against [Western Illinois] and now two goals against [Evansville], I got to take that momentum forward,” Wintermeyer said. “It feels good to score some goals heading into the tournament.”
DeRose mentioned that the team would be focusing on ways to shut down Garvey.
“We’re pretty good in the air, and he just shuts everything down,” DeRose said. “He has the chance to win the game himself.”
DeRose also said that the Evansville has the ability to beat any team if they find the back of the net in a key moment.
Wintermeyer expanded on what the team will need to focus on as a whole in order to move on.
“We need everyone to be locked in and motivated,” Wintermeyer said. “We’ll have to be careful in giving up set pieces to them.”
The Braves left for the tournament in Chicago early Tuesday. Their first round matchup against Evansville kicks off tonight at 4.
