Box Score
PEORIA,
Ill. – Freshman
forward Jason Lesch and junior
forward Wojciech Wojcik provided the
first-half fireworks and Bradley Athletics supplied the postgame show as
Bradley's Homecoming crowd was treated to a 2-0 Braves victory Saturday night
at Shea Stadium.
Bradley (8-4-2, 2-1-0 MVC) earned
its fourth straight home win and guaranteed itself a winning home record for
the fourth consecutive year and 15th time in 16 years. The Braves also improved to 5-1-0 all-time at
Shea Stadium against Evansville (7-5-0, 1-1-0 MVC) with their third straight
win overall against the Purple Aces.
Although Evansville finished with a
21-17 advantage in shots, Bradley junior goalkeeper Brian Billings needed just three saves to record his fourth shutout
of the season, while becoming the third keeper in Bradley history to register
30 career victories.
After Bradley misfired on several
great scoring chances through the first 25 minutes, the Braves broke through on
a bad turnover by Evansville keeper Eric Teppen. Having collected a ball in the box, Teppen
started to make an outlet throw to the left flank, but rethought the
throw. With Lesch lurking in the area,
Teppen ended up throwing the ball directly into the ground and the Bradley
forward pounced on the opportunity.
After clearing the ball away from Teppen at the top of penalty area,
Lesch took a touch back into the center of the box, then shot into the wide
open net for his second of the year at 31:59.
The Braves kept up the pressure and
pushed the advantage to 2-0 at 34:28 with a sequence that started from a corner
kick. Alexei Davies-Campbell started the scoring play with his service
from the right corner. The ball cleared
the scrum in front of the box and fell to Grant
Bell, who drilled the left post with his shot. The ball ricocheted to Wojcik 12 yards into
the center of the penalty area and the junior forward buried the opportunity
for his third goal of the year.
Bradley will wrap up its brief,
2-game Missouri Valley Conference home stand Wednesday when the Braves host
Drake in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Shea Stadium.
The game against the Bulldogs will be Bradley's final home game in
October.