Originally published October 1, 2010
The Braves lost a little footing in the nonconference standings after a scoreless weekend.
The Braves capped off a three game homestand with a 2-0 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies on Friday. NIU’s James Stevenson scored 7 minutes into the game on a rebound to take an early lead.
“We made the big mistake at the critical times,” coach Jim DeRose said. “That’s something that we haven’t done and we haven’t done enough to overcome that.”
At the end of the first half, the Braves had their best scoring chance when junior Bobby Smith sent a shot of the crossbar off of three consecutive throw-ins for the Braves.
Stevenson iced the game late with a goal in the 85th minute after he snuck past the Bradley defense and put one past Bradley’s keeper, freshman Brian Billings.
Unlike the first game this weekend, Sunday’s game against University of Wisconsin-Green Bay was kept scoreless throughout the first half. But two second-half goals for the Phoenix doomed the Braves to their fourth straight loss.
This game also marked the second consecutive game the Braves could not find the score sheet.
The Phoenix scored in the 51st minute off a free kick play and they put the game out of reach with a goal in the 86th minute.
UWGB held a significant shot advantage over the Braves at 16-7 for the whole game.
“We’re going to try to move some people around and try to get some more athletic guys in there,” DeRose said.
The Braves return home to take on Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne on Oct. 1 in Bradley’s last nonconference game before they kick off play in the Missouri Valley Conference with Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Oct. 3.
