INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Senior forward Bryan Gaul (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) backed up his preseason hype by contributing to each of Bradley’s first three goals and the visiting Braves (1-0-0) rolled to a 4-1 victory at #21 Butler (0-1-0) in Friday’s men’s college soccer season-opener at the Butler Bowl.

Gaul assisted Christian Meza’s opening goal in the seventh minute then racked up more than 70 years in distance on his two goals in the17th and 40th minutes to put Bradley in control.  After Butler pulled to within 3-1 in the 42nd minute, freshman midfielder Alexei Davies-Campbell added Bradley’s fourth goal in the 57th minute, on just the team’s fourth shot of the game.

Friday’s season-opener was a matchup of defending conference champions.  While Bradley surged late last season to the championship in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, Butler went undefeated during the 2010 regular season and swept the Horizon League regular-season and tournament titles.  Riding Gaul’s fast start, the Braves won their 10th consecutive season-opener, including their sixth straight season-opener played on the road, while improving to 17-6-2 all-time in season-openers.

A preseason All-American and named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, Gaul became the ninth player in school history to reach 50 career points and he quickly surpassed Stephen Wylie (51) for eighth place by pushing his total to 54 career points on 22 goals and 10 assists.

Gaul helped the Braves take the early lead when he laid a free kick off the the flank, where senior forward Christian Meza rifled a 25-yard rocket off the right post and past Butler keeper Jon Dawson for a 1-0 lead at 6:11.

Gaul earned what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 17th minute on a blast of beauty.  The 6-foot-5 striker chested a ball down with his back to the goal at the football field’s 32-yard line.  The ball took one bounce as Gaul turned on his right shoulder and he unleashed a left-footed side volley that sent the ball screaming by a diving Dawson for a 2-0 lead at 16:10.  Head coach Jim DeRose, who is entering his 16th year with the Braves, described Gaul's stunning strike after the game as the best goal in Bradley Soccer history.

In the 40th minute, Gaul got behind the Butler defense and ran onto took a Cecil Jeffrey through ball and flicked a shot from the 20-yard line past a charging Dawson for a 3-0 lead at 39:32.

Austin Oldham put Butler on the board with an 18-yard shot at 41:21, but Bradley sophomore keeper Brian Billings was up to every other challenge the Bulldogs could muster as the home team continued to press forward in attempt to get back in the game.  Butler ended the game with a 21-8 advantage in shots, but Billings saved seven of the home team’s eight shots on goal to earn the win.

Taking advantage of the pressing Bulldog attack, Bradley gained some additional insurance when junior forward Jochen Graf attacked the left flank on a long run before feeding Davies-Campbell, who slotted his shot under Dawson for the final 4-1 margin at 56:37.

The Braves will return to action Sunday afternoon when they visit IPFW in a 1 p.m. match at the Hefner Soccer Complex in Fort Wayne, Ind.  Bradley will open its home schedule by hosting former Missouri Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois Thursday night and Green Bay Sept. 3.  Both games will kick off at 7 p.m. at Shea Stadium.

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