Oct. 15, 2015
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SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State men's soccer team (4-4-3, 1-1-1 MVC) heads to Peoria, Ill. Saturday to face the Bradley Braves (5-7, 2-0 MVC) at Shea Stadium at 7 p.m. Bradley is currently unbeaten and sitting in second place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The game will air live on ESPN3 and features two of the league's top programs in recent years. This will be the 33rd meeting between MSU and Bradley.
"This is a big game for us," said head coach Jon Leamy. "These are three crucial points that we need to capture on the road. It will be a hard fought match and we will have to work hard in order to get the win."
The Bears lead the series over the Braves 20-8-4, dating back to 1988. The last time MSU saw Bradley was at home last season, where the Bears were able to pick up the 1-0 win. James Thomas, now a senior, headed the game-winning goal in the 51st minute off of a rebounded save.
MSU is coming off of a big week at home last week after sailing past Eastern Illinois on Oct. 6, 3-0, and posting a 0-0 double overtime scoreless draw against MVC power Loyola on Oct. 10.
The Bears were on fire against Eastern Illinois, with nine different players taking shots in the match, out-shooting the Panthers 12-0. Two different Bears - Tyler Swanner and Jake Laird - scored for the first time in their college career at MSU, while junior Phil Woods recorded his second.
In Saturday's match against Loyola, seven Bears took shots, accounting for ten overall with four shots on goal. Thomas led the way for the Bears firing three different times throughout the match. Jake Buckle followed Thomas by taking two shots of his own. Buckle leads the Bears this season in shots taken with 22.
MSU goalkeeper Liam Priestley captured his fifth and sixth shutouts of the season last week, helping the Bears tie for 12th nationally in shutout percentage (0.55) and 34th in goals against average (0.84). MSU has been consistently in the top-50 in both categories since the second week of the season.
First-year MSU assistant coach and goalkeeper coach, Cory Herchenroeder, is impressed with the accomplishments of Priestley this season.
"Liam has taken on the role as starter for this team with a great deal of pride," said Herchenroeder. "He comes to training with the mentality of wanting to be better than the day before, and I think you can see that in his play and the confidence his teammates have in him."
The Valley on ESPN3, part of the Missouri Valley Conference's media rights agreement with ESPN, will feature most home soccer matches from all 10 MVC institutions on the ESPN3 streaming platform in the coming seasons. The HD-quality telecasts are available for free at www.WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN App. Bradley is the only Valley school to use this platform for men's soccer in the 2015 season.
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