With four minutes to play in Bradley’s home opener at Shea Stadium, the scoreboard read: Green Bay 3, Bradley 3.
Five minutes earlier, junior defender Anel Kafedzic drew things level with a left-footed volley inside the box.
As the clock wound down, all signs pointed to a third draw in four games for the Braves. Their first victory of the season was proving to be elusive.
But then, Kafedzic delivered again, sending a pass from midfield that found the head of senior Ian Ferguson, and then another header by sophomore Connor Chester, before finally dropping at the feet of sophomore midfielder Fjölnir Sigurjónsson.
The Reykjavik, Iceland, native gathered the ball on the right side, then slotted it past the Green Bay keeper for the go-ahead goal.
And a score he’ll never forget.
“It’s my first goal in a Bradley shirt, so it was a big relief,” Sigurjónsson said. “And coming off the bench, helping [us] to come back, that feeling’s amazing.”
Just before the final whistle, senior forward Mitch Coughlon officially put the game to bed with a penalty kick, making the final score 5-3 and giving Bradley its first win of the season.
The three goals in quick succession were a testament to the players’ confidence in themselves, according to head coach Tim Regan.
“They’ve all played a role this year, and they know they’re capable,” Regan said. “The key is when [it’s] their moment, what are they going to do? And we talked about it at halftime – Coach Barnett made the point about some players stepping up and making plays.”
“Those guys did it.”
Slow start, but strong results
Despite eight goals being scored throughout the whole match, neither team could find a shot in the first 10 minutes. A combination of hard-nosed defending and finding comfort in their own halves resulted in limited chances, but might’ve been a good thing for both Bradley and Green Bay.
“There’s a slowness to certain things you do defensively,” Regan said. “Some of it’s intentional, some of it’s not, and the key was to be a little bit more disciplined. When we gave up four [against Omaha], we didn’t score any, so we were trying to make sure that we started the game in a disciplined manner.”
Both teams started to find their groove offensively, but it wouldn’t be until the 38th minute that we’d see a goal. Freshman midfielder Liam Healey chased after a deflected through ball in the box but was tripped up by the opposing goalkeeper, thus resulting in a penalty kick, which the former Chicago Fire Academy product converted.
“It took quite a while to get started, so I definitely had a lot of time to myself before I took it,” Healey said. “But I’ve been in those situations before; I have confidence in myself, I’ve practiced PK’s numerous times, so I know when my moment arises, I’m ready to take it.”
To add on to that, the Bradley defense was rock solid, with senior goalkeeper Marçal Salom Chandre making three saves and the backline stopping attacks dead in their tracks, including a couple highlight reel blocks from freshman defender Adrian Franks.
The Phoenix found two more shots in the final minute of the first half, but both ended up flying over the crossbar. A 9-3 lead for Green Bay in the shot department, which would become a 20-9 lead by the final whistle, pressured the Braves to adapt strategies going into the second half.
“We knew they were gonna make some adjustments, and they have quality,” Regan said. “So we tried to prepare the group for dealing with that defensively and still let them know that the game goes two ways, and we did a good job early to push forward.”
Bradley’s second goal of the contest came 50 seconds into the second half via a shot from redshirt senior forward Franc Nmengah. The attempt originally missed, but it deflected off a Green Bay defender for an own goal.
“[It was] less than desirable from my viewpoint how we managed the next 20 minutes, but there’s a swing that occurs in our sport when there’s a two-goal lead and one team’s got the ability to go after it because they have nothing to lose,” Regan said.
And while Green Bay’s Noah Radeke, Ty Perkins and Michael Hennessy all found the back of the net, the late surge from the Braves was just too strong for the Horizon League outfit to handle. But that scare in the second half appears to have given the players something to think about during gamefilm sessions.
“Giving up three after we’re up two is not acceptable, and we have to be better,” Healey said. “But more props to the guys for coming back off of that. Any team could have just sat down and gave up, but no, we came back and scored three goals, which is not common in college soccer.”
Now with a win under their belt, Bradley enters a September schedule full of many important games, starting with Wednesday’s match against Western Illinois at 7 p.m. A victory like this gives them a lot to consider moving forward.
“We’ve got great players on this team,” Sigurjónsson said. “I think we definitely just need to spend more time in the video room and the pitch. I think that’s where we can improve the most.”
