PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley put its Missouri Valley Conference record 16-game streak of games decided by no more than one goal to rest Monday night by powering past visiting Oral Roberts for a 5-2 victory on Senior Night at Shea Stadium.

After Bradley honored its nine seniors in a pregame ceremony, the underclassmen took over once the game started by combining for three goals and four assists on the night.  Sophomore midfielder Keegan Balle led the charge by scoring his first goal of the season and adding a pair of assists for a career-best four points.  The five-goal outburst was Bradley’s largest since a 7-1 win against Alabama A&M Sept. 12, 2010 at Evansville’s tournament and the best offensive output at home a 7-0 win against Drury Sept. 12, 2003 at Shea Stadium.

Bradley wasted little time getting on the board as junior forward Jochen Graf came up with the second ball on a Brian Billings punt deep into Bradley’s offensive end and knifed through the Oral Roberts back line to create a one-on-one situation against Golden Eagles keeper Daniel McCarthy.  Graf beat McCarthy with a left-footed laser inside the left post for a 1-0 lead just 1-minute, 50-seconds into the game.

Oral Roberts got the equalizer in the eighth minute when Cody Lofgren collected a Marco Hernandez cross in the middle of the penalty area and had time enough to pick his target to beat Billings for his second goal of the season at 7:24.

Bradley broke the game open with a flurry of goals to end the half.  Balle finished off a Bryan Gaul cross at the right post for the go-ahead goal at 31:52.  After hitting the cross bar on a empty-net, point blank shot moments earlier, junior defender Matt Kuehl pounced on a Wojciech Wojcik service that caromed off the left post and poked home what proved to be the game-winner at 39:26.  A junior college transfer, Kuehl’s goal was his first as a Brave.

Junior midfielder Marcus Schademann followed with his first career goal in the 44th minute, rolling a shot from the “D” inside the left post at 43:36.

Oral Roberts put regular keeper Nick Petolick in to start the second half, but the Braves needed only 1-minute, 4-seconds to put in their fifth goal of the game.  After Balle flicked a Luke Wasylik free kick service across the penalty area with a back header, sophomore forward Chris Olivera finished off the play with a run to the far post to score his first career goal at 46:04.

The Golden Eagles completed the scoring in the 83rd minute when Aaron Birk netted his sixth goal of the year after making a long run and dribble across the top of the penalty area before beating Bradley backup keeper Kyle Orne with a shot inside the left post.

In addition to the first career goals by Kuehl and Olivera, freshman midfielder Cody Gilfillan earned his first career point by assisting Balle’s goal in the 32nd minute.  In all, nine different Bradley players combined on the 17 total points, the sixth-best single-game total in program history and the most since racking up the record 22 points (7 goals, 8 assists) last season versus Alabama A&M.

Monday’s win gives the Braves a 9-2-2 non-conference record this season, equaling the second-best non-conference win total during the regular-season in program history.  The 1997 Braves went 10-2-0 against non-conference competition, while the 2005 Braves were 9-3-0 outside The Valley during the regular-season.  The 12 wins also equals the third-best regular-season victory total in program history.

Bradley will have a chance to add a 13th win to its ledger Saturday when the Braves visit Valley rival Central Arkansas in the regular-season finale.  Though the Braves have a chance to pull into a four-way tie for first in the final Valley standings, the Braves will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed for next week’s State Farm MVC Tournament, which will be hosted by Creighton.  Bradley can earn a share of the MVC regular-season title if it can couple a win Saturday at UCA with a Missouri State loss at Drake and a Creighton home loss to Evansville.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Boys

Midwest High School Roundup - Nov.