JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The Bradley Soccer team will be shooting for its ninth consecutive season-opening victory when the Braves kick off the 2010 campaign Wednesday afternoon at St. Peter's College. Jim DeRose's squad departed Peoria Monday for a 3-game East Coast road swing that also will take them to Fairfield Friday and Delaware Sunday and will include sight-seeing stops in New York City and Washington, D.C.
ROAD WARRIORS
Bradley will open its 24th NCAA Division I soccer season by playing its first five games away from home, beginning with this week's 3-game swing to the East Coast ... The 2010 campaign marks the third consecutive year the Braves have opened on the road, but the only other season Bradley has played its first five away from home was 1991 ... The 1991 Braves went 4-1-0 in those opening five games ... The Braves enjoyed similar success on the road to start the last two seasons, opening the 2009 campaign with a 2-1 win at Northern Illinois and the 2008 slate by knocking off both host Memphis (4-0) and UAB (2-1) in the Memphis Diadora Tournament.
HOT STARTS
Bradley has won eight consecutive season-openers, dating back to a 4-3 loss to Valpariso Aug. 31, 2001 ... In his first 14 years as Bradley's head coach, Jim DeRose boasts a 13-1-0 record in season-opening games.
NICE TO MEET YOU
Bradley's first four games to start the 2010 season are being played against first-time opponents ... The Braves have never before met St. Peter's (Wednesday), Fairfield (Friday), Delaware (Sunday) or East Tennessee State (Sept. 10) ... Including games Sept. 26 at Wisconsin-Green Bay and Oct. 3 at Houston Baptist, Bradley will play a total of six games this season against teams it has never before met on the soccer pitch.
DEROSE STARTS YEAR 15
Veteran Bradley Soccer head coach Jim DeRose is beginning his 15th year at the helm of the Braves program ... DeRose enters the season with a 155-108-28 (.581) career record and will coach his 300th college game (all at Bradley) when the Braves visit Green Bay Sept. 26 ... DeRose's 155 wins represent 75.2 percent of the program's 206 NCAA Division I victories since the program was elevated from club status in 1987.
YOUTHFUL LINEUP
Bradley opens the 2010 season with an active roster that features 14 freshmen, compared to 13 returning lettermen.
GAUL PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Junior midfielder Bryan Gaul is one of 11 players to earn preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, according to a poll of the league's eight head coaches ... Gaul was an honorable mention All-MVC pick as a steady defender last year ... Bradley's active career leader with 21 points and eight goals, the 6-foot-4 Gaul is expected to move back into his natural midfield position this year.
DRAW AT MICHIGAN STATE
Bradley's youthful lineup earned a confidence boost in the preseason by battling #19 Michigan State to a 1-1 draw Aug. 21 in Grand Rapids, Mich ... Playing in front of a partisan crowd in excess of 1,700, the Braves secured the draw when freshman Keegan Balle converted a direct free kick from 25 yards out in the 72nd minute.
