As the Braves walked off the field and headed into the locker room after the first half against Division III school Millikin, they found themselves in familiar territory.
It was the fourth time through seven games that Bradley had failed to score a goal in the first half.
But it wasn’t for lack of trying.
The Braves relentlessly attacked the Big Blue’s backline, registering 18 shots in the first half, with five attempts on goal.
In the locker room, head coach Tim Regan delivered a strong message to the Braves before stepping out onto the field for the second half.
“Just [wanted] to stay confident with what we were doing,” Regan said. “Because it wasn’t for a lack of opportunities created. In our game, it’s difficult to score, and we always talk about that. But to stay confident and to keep going immediately in the second half, I think we showed that we can keep doing the same things, but just got to finish.”
Bradley took heed to Regan’s message—and then some.
Four minutes into the second half, the Big Blue fouled junior forward DJ Koulai on the right side of the box. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot, where Koulai stepped up and slotted the ball calmly into the net to take a 1-0 lead.
“It was a good way to start the half,” Regan said. “It confirms the confidence that we’re supposed to have and do have.”
However, that wasn’t enough for Bradley. Ten minutes later, on a cross from fifth-year senior forward Kevin Mejias, junior forward Mitch Coughlon got a head on it, bouncing just past the keeper and giving Coughlon his second goal of the season.
“In the locker room, we had a bunch of tactics changed,” Coughlon said. “We were feeling more offensive and going forward we were like ‘hey, let’s score a couple goals, let’s try putting the ball in the back of the net,’ and it was overall a great half for Bradley soccer.”
The Braves’ defense still didn’t let up, stopping every Millikin opportunity. A tie game at halftime put a lot more pressure on the back line, but the defense and senior goalkeeper Drew Berry kept calm while the goals were piling up on the other end of the field.
“We were doing very well defensively, and it was just kind of the same game plan: just a little bit more composure in the final third and just find some goals,” Berry said. “And we did all of that, so it was definitely a good half for us.”
The following 20 minutes were goalless, but with seven minutes left, freshman midfielder Connor Chester scored his first collegiate goal with a header off a corner kick from junior defender Ivan Reyes. The whole team was ecstatic after that goal, knowing it was his first-ever goal for Bradley.
“It just feels really good, especially seeing people score their first collegiate goal and things like that,” Berry said. “It’s really fun to watch and it’s just a pleasure to step on the field with these boys every day.”
The header goals just kept coming.
With three minutes on the clock, freshman midfielder Olav Crovo sent a corner kick right towards Coughlon, who headed the ball into the bottom left corner, scoring his second of the day. Coughlon remarked on how good it felt to put up this performance in front of many area schools, including his old grade school, which was taking a field trip to the game that day.
“It felt awesome playing in front of all these kids, especially [those from] the grade school I went to, it’s a dream come true,” Coughlon said. “Seeing all these kids getting excited after scoring a lot of goals, we really performed for them.”
Those four goals bumped Bradley’s record up to 2-2-3, a vital win approaching conference play. The team revealed that this game gives them confidence going into the thick of their schedule.
“It’s a good starting point,” Regan said. “The rest gets a lot more difficult. You have NCAA Tournament-caliber teams coming up in non-conference, and you have a really difficult conference schedule with three teams undefeated. So, the challenge is to continue to go up and a day like today is going to help us be ready for it.”
Bradley’s final game before facing their first conference opponent will be Tuesday on the road against Green Bay, which are currently 3-3. Kickoff will be at 3 p.m.
