CHICAGO – In his first career start, redshirt freshman keeper Shay Niemeyer made four saves for his first career shutout and Bradley (10-5-3) cruised to a 3-0 win at Loyola-Chicago Wednesday night.

 

Sophomore forward Desmond Campbell scored the game-winning goal for the second consecutive year in a regular-season win against the Ramblers, netting his fourth goal of the year in unassisted fashion at 17:45.  Senior forward Jochen Graf helped ice the game by registering a goal and an assist in the game’s final five minutes.

 

Bradley utilized 20 players Wednesday night to reach double-digits in the “win” column for the third consecutive year.  Now 6-2-1 in their last nine games, the Braves will try to carry over the momentum into their regular-season finale at home Saturday night against Missouri Valley Conference rival Central Arkansas, then into next week’s MVC Men’s Soccer Championship, which they will host at Shea Stadium. 

 

Dominating possession throughout the game, Bradley outshot Loyola, 20-13, including an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal.  Niemeyer, who had played just five minutes in his first two years at Bradley, made all four saves to give the Braves their fifth shutout of the season.

 

Despite their offensive advantage, the Braves did not put the game away until Graf fed junior forward Alexei Davies-Campbell in the 86th minute.  The New Zealand national finished off the scoring chance for his first goal of the season.  Graf reclaimed the team’s goal-scoring lead by striking for the seventh time this season at 88:57.