PEORIA, Ill. --
Bradley picked up its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, topping DePaul 2-0 Saturday night at Shea Stadium to advance to the second round and will face perennial national power Indiana Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. Senior
Stephen Brust (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey/Cedarville) and sophomore
Justin Bigelow (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) netted the goals for the Braves.
Bradley (15-5-3 overall) held a 9-4 edge in shots in the first half, but wasn't able to break through until the 61st minute when Brust knocked in his second game-winning goal in as many matches. Brust controlled a loose ball in the box and blasted home a shot into the upper left corner to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.
DePaul (12-8-0 overall) nearly knotted the match in the 77th minute. Alex Mangan had a shot deflected and Steffen Vroom controlled the loose ball and put a shot on frame. Freshman Rudy Garcia (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) was in the right place at the right time, earning a team save as he cleared away the potential game-tying strike.
The Braves added an insurance goal in the 83rd minute when Bigelow passed the ball into the box to sophomore Chris Cutshaw (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), who hit Bigelow in stride with a pass, allowing him to net his second goal of the season and push Bradley's lead to 2-0.
"It's been a year of firsts," Bradley head coach Jim DeRose said. "Tonight was a great opportunity to extend the season. We just defended hard, Stephen came through again and the Indiana connection (Indiana natives Bigelow and Cutshaw) finished it off."
DePaul outshot the Braves 7-5 in the second half, but senior Mike Haynes (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap) made a pair of saves after halftime and finished with three stops on the night to record his eighth shutout of the season.
The Braves picked up their first NCAA Tournament victory in program history and are now 1-3 in four appearances. The victory tied a school record 15 wins, set in 2000 (15-7-2) and again in 2005 (15-6-1). DePaul was making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Bradley will face No. 4 seed Indiana Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CST) in the second round in Bloomington, Ind. The Braves Club will be sponsoring a bus trip for the match against the Hoosiers. The trip will cost $20 and will not include a ticket to the contest. Ticket prices are $7 for adults and $3 for children. Bradley students will receive free tranportation and admission to the contest, but need to make a $5 refundable deposit. Reservations need to be made at the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office by noon on Monday (309) 677-2625. The bus will leave Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
