BRADLEY SOCCER GAME RECAP

AUGUST 30, 2014 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications

 

Bell Heads Home Golden Winner in Opener

 

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Soccer's season-opening result was worth the wait.  On a night that featured 2-and-a-half hours of weather delays and two overtime games, Bradley's Grant Bell headed home the golden winner with 19.5 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Braves (1-0-0) to a 3-2 win against San Jose State (0-1-0) to cap the first night of The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic at Shea Stadium.

 

The winning goal started with a corner kick.  With the clock winding down, freshman Grayson McGraw hustled to the left corner to start the sequence, quickly playing the ball to the top corner of the 18, where Christian Okeke served the ball to the right post.  Bell, who drilled the cross bar on a header from a corner kick service early in the game, came through with his run to the post to net Bradley's 13th consecutive season-opening winner.

 

For the first time during the season-opening win streak, however, the Braves yielded more than one goal.

 

San Jose State held a 1-0 halftime lead, thanks to a Frankie Beauchamp penalty kick in the 32nd minute.  Bradley keeper Shay Niemeyer guessed correctly on the direction with a dive to his left, but Beauchamp buried the PK into the top right corner, just out of Niemeyer's reach.

 

The Braves, who battled from behind to get preseason results against both #1 Notre Dame (2-2) and defending Horizon League champion UIC (3-1), netted the equalizer in the 62nd minute when midfielder Andrew Brown redirected a flank service inside the left post.

 

Jason Lesch gave the home side a 2-1 lead less than six minutes later at 67:52 when he cracked a 1-time from the center of the penalty area to finish a chance created by Okeke's work on the right flank.

 

The Spartans had an immediate answer, however, when Johnathan Colunga started a transition sequence from the midfield and sprung Eric Mendez with a run through the center of the park.  Mendez beat Niemeyer into the top right corner for a 2-2 tie at 70:27.

 

San Jose State nearly got the winner in the 89th minute when Colunga whipped a free kick from just outside the box through the right side of the Bradley wall, but Niemeyer made a diving save to the right post to preserve the tie.  Spartans keeper Emmanuel Espinosa matched Niemeyer's effort with a similar dive to the left post on a Cody Lofgren free kick through the SJSU wall in the 100th minute.

 

After a 57-minute lightning delay in the 24th minute halted the tournament opener between UNLV and Western Illinois, the Rebels grabbed the night's first overtime win with a 2-1 decision.  Connor Coletti netted the golden goal for UNLV by deflecting a loose ball in the 6-yard box at 91:57.

 

As a result of the first-game delay and extra time, the Bradley-San Jose State game started an hour and 19 minutes late, then was halted in the 10th minute due to a second round of storms to hit the Peoria area.  Play resumed just after 10 o'clock.

 

Bradley will take on UNLV in the defacto Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic championship game Sunday at 2:30 p.m., following the noon contest between Western Illinois and San Jose State.