PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Soccer equaled a piece of program history Wednesday night as senior forward Wojciech Wojcik contributed a goal and an assist to a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference win against Southern Illinois Edwardsville (5-7-2, 1-2-0 MVC) at Shea Stadium.

 

With its third consecutive 2-0 victory, Bradley (8-4-2, 2-0-1 MVC) now has scored multiple goals in three straight shutouts for just the second time in program history, following the 2002 Braves that won three straight by a combined 14-0 score from Sept. 22-29.  Senior goalkeeper Brian Billings made three saves Wednesday night to become the second keeper in program history with 20 career shutouts (Chris Dunsheath, 27.5 from 2002-05) and he extended his shutout streak to 224-minutes, 5-seconds.

 

Coupled with Drake’s 1-1 tie at Loyola Chicago Wednesday night, Bradley moves into a tie for second in The Valley standings with the Bulldogs, setting up a key matchup Saturday night in Des Moines.

 

Bradley and SIUE both finished the night with 12 shots and both keepers made three saves, but Bradley had a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks and the added pressure eventually led to the breakthrough goal.

 

Midfielder Andrew Brown served Bradley’s seventh corner kick of the night from the left side in the 71st minute.  SIUE initially cleared the ball out of the penalty area, but defender Johnny Contreras collected the ball to the left of the “D” and ripped a shot into the crowd.  The ball deflected to Wojcik near the right post and he was able to punch it past Cougars keeper Jon Berner at 70:45 for his third goal of the year and fifth career game-winner.  The assist was Contreras’ first career point as a Brave.

 

The Cougars were forced to press forward as the clock wound down and the Braves took advantage for the insurance goal with just 46 seconds remaining.  Brown’s throw in from the right flank eventually came to Wojcik, who switched the field with a service to a wide open Christian Okeke on the left side.  Okeke dribbled in for a 1-v-1 chance with Berner and sent his shot off the SIUE keeper’s fingertips and inside the right post for his third tally of the year at 89:14.  Wojcik’s ninth assist of the year moves him into a tie for seventh on Bradley’s single-season list.

 

Following Saturday’s game at Drake, Bradley will close out the regular-season home schedule by hosting league-leading Missouri State in a 6 p.m. game Nov. 2 at Shea Stadium.  The game against the Bears will be the final regular-season home game for 10 Bradley seniors, who will be honored in a pregame ceremony.

 

Bradley Athletics Mission

Provide every student-athlete the opportunity for both a distinctive education and a championship experience

Accountability | Courage | Diligence | Integrity | Respect