If the second half of the season is anything like the first half for the men's soccer team, coach Jim DeRose will not be disappointed.

After knocking off two Chicagoland schools over the weekend, the Braves' record stands at 9-2.

That's two wins more than last season and one fewer than the last two seasons combined. That's also two fewer than the single-season school record set in 1992, which was Bradley's only winning soccer season.

By beating Northwestern and the University of Illinois-Chicago, the Braves vaulted into sixth place in the Midwest region, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

At the end of last week the Braves were ranked 10th, while UIC held the fifth spot. The loss to Bradley was the first this season for the Flames.

"Last year we scored and allowed the same amount of goals (39), but this year the attacking's been collective," DeRose said. "We're also spreading around the scoring numbers."

One player who has helped Bradley with its nine wins is freshman Justin Arabadjief, who leads the Braves with five goals and is tied with sophomore Dan Goldstein with 11 points. Arabadjief was named to Missouri Valley Conference offensive player of the week for the week of Oct. 5.

Now the Braves prepare for the beginning of conference action after fall break. In the meantime, they have almost two weeks without a game, which is a blessing in disguise, according to DeRose.

"We've got to recover," DeRose said. "We've got some injuries. Goldstein hurt his ankle (against Northwestern), and his ankle hasn't responded to treatment. And we need to mentally come down."

After the break Bradley faces the toughest MVC opponent in Creighton, which plays under the lights in front of nearly 3,000 fans.

"The down side is we have 12 days off, and now you go against one of the top teams in the country in Creighton," DeRose said. "For the freshmen it should be an unnerving experience, but we will have to see how they'll respond."

vs. University of Illinois-Chicago (Sunday)

The Flames came to Peoria with a 9-0-1 record but left with their record tarnished. The Braves came away with a 3-1 win.

"Chances fell our way this game, and Matt Marden does a great job and kept us in the game when we had our lapses," DeRose said. "But I think our team has been collective in what we've done all year."

Bradley got on the board first at the 23rd minute when freshman Bryan Namoff converted a cross from Arabadjief.

UIC came back with a goal almost two minutes into the second half off a corner kick. This is only the second goal Bradley has allowed at home.

BU took exception and put two more past UIC, one from senior Matt Barber off a cross from freshman Omar Feliciano and another from Arabadjief from Barber.

"The third goal was a killer and a backbreaker," DeRose said. "That was tremendous effort. And the one by Barber was incredible when he dug around for the ball and kept with it."

All three goals came from similar plays, which DeRose said they've been working on in practice.

"I thought we made the most of our chances, and I thought we did a great job working the ball around with a flank service, getting the wide player and making those tight, hard runs," DeRose said.

vs Northwestern (Saturday)

The Wildcats were able to do something no visiting team had done--score against the Braves.

Bradley did come away with a 3-1 win after converting three free kicks.

"Northwestern has quite a few seniors and good leadership on their team," DeRose said. "I thought it wasn't a 3- 1 game, though."

The Wildcats lost their starting keeper the night before after he separated his shoulder. Also, one of the team's starters was out due to a red card received the night before.

Freshman Matt Horner scored only 1:06 into the game off a free kick, followed by a goal by freshman Dan Hanrahan from freshman Dan Thorstenson in the 23rd minute.

Northwestern got on the board in the 28th minute off a cross to break Bradley's streak of holding its opponents scoreless at home, which had reached seven games.

Horner scored his second goal of the game off another free kick to secure the victory.

Up next

MVC action gets underway for the Braves when they play at Creighton at 7 p.m. Oct. 17. The Blue Jays are currently second in the Midwest.

Bradley then travels to Drake to take on the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. Oct. 19.

The Braves have not won a conference game in four years--22 straight games.