The Bradley soccer team rebounded from two straight home defeats to knock off Belmont 2-0 Tuesday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The Braves had previously lost to No. 6 Cal State Northridge and to unranked Western Illinois in their last two matches at home.
With the victory, the team moved to 6-4-2 on the season.
“It was good for us,” DeRose said. “I thought we defended quite well [against Belmont]. It was great to respond after two tough home losses.”
The story of the game was the shot count. Bradley dominated Belmont with a 28-9 advantage in the category. It was the second time in three games the Braves had 19 or more shots than their opponent.
“We really generated a lot of attack [against Belmont],” DeRose said. “Our challenge is not getting the shot off when we need to. To make a basketball analogy it’s like doing a pump fake and getting [the defender] in the air then not taking the shot to try to get a closer one.”
Despite the high volume of shots, Bradley struck first in the 36th minute on an own goal.
Sophomore Andrew Brown had a long throw-in into the box, but a Belmont defender got to the ball first and attempted to clear it with a header. However, the ball was miss-hit and found the back of the net for the goal.
The Braves added another goal in the 51st minute. Junior Desmond Campbell dribbled to the end line on the right side of the box and sent a pass back to the middle for senior Alon Badat. He gathered the ball and sent a strike to the back of the net for the goal.
DeRose said Badat has been a great addition to the team after missing last year with an ACL injury.
“He’s played at a very high level in Israel,” he said. “He sees the game maybe different than a lot of our guys. He sees the game with a lot more vision than a lot of our younger players. He also makes guys around him better. He’ll be a great helper the rest of the way.”
Senior goalkeeper Brian Billings made two saves and earned his 18th career shutout. He now shares second place on Bradley’s all-time list with Adam Gross.
The Braves return to action at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Shea Stadium against Loyola in the annual Homecoming game.
