CHARLESTON, Ill. – Cody Lofgren scored his first goal as a Brave and reserve goalkeeper Shay Niemeyer made seven saves in his first appearance of the season, leading Bradley (9-6-2) to a 1-0 win at Eastern Illinois (1-14-2) in the non-conference finale Tuesday afternoon at Lakeside Field.

 

The win give 18th-year Bradley head coach Jim DeRose his 200th career victory and snapped Bradley’s brief, 2-game losing streak.  The Braves will try to keep the momentum going in Saturday’s regular-season finale at Evansville, before hosting the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Soccer Championship next week (Nov. 13, 15, 17) at Shea Stadium.

 

After a scoreless first half, Bradley scored the game’s only goal in the 61st minute when Lofgren collected a cross from Wojciech Wojcik on the left side of the six-yard box and beat Panthers goalkeeper Garrett Creasor for his first goal as a Brave at 60:16.  The assist is the 10th of the season for Wojcik, equaling the fifth-best single-season total in Bradley Soccer history, and his 18th career assist, breaking a tie with Hall-of-Famer Bryan Namoff for fifth-most in Bradley history.

 

Niemeyer made the goal stand up as the game-winner by making five of his seven saves in the final 36 mintues.

 

DeRose now boasts a 200-135-39 (.587) career record and his 200 wins with the Braves represent 79.7 percent of the 251 all-time wins in Bradley Soccer’s 27-year history.

 

 

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