After over 360 minutes without scoring a goal, the Bradley soccer team knocked in a 83rd-minute goal, tying Evansville 1-1 on Monday night. The tie moves the Braves to 2-4-1 on the season.
Early on in the first half, Bradley struggled offensively, managing only three shots. Evansville, on the other hand, more than doubled Bradley’s offensive efforts with seven shots.
The first goal of the match came from an off-balance shot taken by the Purple Ace’s Nicholas Likulia in the 48th minute inside the goal box.
Bradley head coach Jim DeRose faults the goal on the confusion caused by a long throw-in into the goal box, while also mentioning the absence of graduate Gerit Wintermeyer due to an injury in the first half.
“It was a weird play,” DeRose said. “Corner kicks or throw-ins like that happen. In the end, we probably could have done a bit better with it — it’s not because of youth. I think if Gerit’s in the game, it might have helped.”
The Brave’s offensive productivity ramped up in the second half, taking eight shots same as the Purple Aces.
The next goal came in the 83rd minute when Bradley sophomore Rasmus Smidtslund knocked in a header off a long throw-in, marking his second of the season.
Smidtslund notes that leading up to Evansville, practices focused on the team’s set pieces, and this time it paid off.
“Before the goal, I felt like [scoring] was in the air,” Smidtslund said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time in practice on set plays and the throw-in itself just worked out.”
The tying goal sent the teams to a golden goal overtime, where both teams managed only one shot in both overtime halves.
Looking ahead, after two overtime games in less than a week, DeRose looks forward to letting the team recover.
“The first thing I’m trying to get accomplished if I’m being honest … is not to see some of these guys,” DeRose said. “They need to be sleeping, they need to be eating, [and] they need to be regenerating.”
The recovery is especially important for the young team, as according to DeRose, outside of Wintermeyer, freshmen lead in minutes played and are not quite accustomed the intensity of college soccer yet.
Moving forward, the Braves now have a week to prepare for Loyola for their last home game of the season. DeRose anticipates the counter-attack being a vital factor to their success next Tuesday.
“They spread the whole field,” DeRose said. “Loyola stretches you from sideline to sideline … you gotta go quick against them.”
Bradley kicks off against Loyola at 6 p.m. at Shea Stadium on Tuesday evening.
