MORTON, Ill. -- Exhibition games provide coaches an opportunity to evaluate their complete rosters and Bradley head coach Jim DeRose got that opportunity Tuesday night when the #25 Braves hosted Dayton at McClallen Park.

The evaluation came in a losing effort, however, as the veteran Flyers used a pair of goals midway through the second half to pull away for a 3-1 road win.  Evan McCreary scored the game's first goal in the 17th minute, then tacked on the capper in the 67th minute to lead the Dayton effort.  Greg Enstone earned the game-winning tally by finishing off his run through the box to push Dayton ahead, 2-1, in the 59th minute.

Bradley bounced back from McCreary's first goal by netting the equalizer just 59 seconds later when Wojciech Wojcik scored in traffic off a feed from Tapiwa Machingauta in the 18th minute.

Dayton finished the night with a 14-12 advantage in shots and limited the Braves to just three shots on goal.

Bradley played without juniors Jason Coon, Ross Williams and Scott Davis, as well as sophomore forward Desmond Campbell, while junior goalkeeper Brian Billings, who was named the preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference goalkeeper earlier in the day, played only the first half.  In place of the veterans, 10 of Bradley's 11 freshmen saw action among the 21 Braves to hit the field.

Bradley will open the 2012 regular season with four consecutive home games, beginning Aug. 24 when former Valley rival Eastern Illinois visits for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Shea Stadium.  The opening weekend will conclude with a visit from Western Michigan Aug. 26.