Men’s soccer team falls to Bradley 1-0

JJ Bullock, Assistant Sports Editor

When Eastern’s Tyler Enright had a shot blocked by Bradley goalkeeper Brandon Barnes in the second overtime of the Panthers’ 1-0 loss Tuesday night in Peoria, it secured a seventh-straight game where Eastern failed to score a goal and led to the Panthers’ sixth loss of the season.

Bradley was given the win in the 105th minute of the game when Brad Pollifrone fired a shot by Eastern goalkeeper Mike Novotny giving his team a 1-0 win in the sudden death period.

Pellifrone had a shot just a minute earlier blocked by Novotny. The goal was his first of the season.

After losing a game with five minutes to play in a sudden-death overtime, Lara kept things positive with his team.

“(I told them) keep grinding because we are doing many things well and improving in a small way each time we go out,” Lara said.

Although it was Bradley that found the back of the net first, it was Eastern that finished with the upper hand statistically as it outshot the Braves 10-6 total, 5-3 on goal.

Redshirt senior Fabio Callado led Eastern in shots. Callado had three shots in the game, two on goal. Two of Callado’s shots came within a minute of each other in the second half, however, both were blocked by Bradley goalkeeper Brandon Barnes.

Barnes finished the game for Bradley with five saves, moving his season total to 71 and putting him in a tie with Novotny for most in the country.

Offensively, it was the seventh game in a row Eastern has been shutout and the ninth time total this season. However, the 10 shots the Panthers had in the game is one below their season high, which is an encouraging sign to Lara.

“Better offensive performance in terms of creating chances and. Much closer to scoring today and breaking a cycle,” Lara said. “That is absolutely a great sign and we did a lot of things well today to get a good result. Just fell a bit short. But plenty of good to prep for a strong conference opponent Saturday.”

The defense for the Panthers held up their end of the bargain, as they typically do, turning in another strong performance, holding Bradley to just six shots, three on goal.

“As always, another great defensive shift from all players,” Lara said. “As always, we were committed and disciplined as always.”

The loss dropped Eastern’s record on the season to 2-6-5, while also holding its goal total at four, which is second to last in the country.

The win moves Bradley to 8-4-1 on the season.

Eastern will return home for its next game Saturday against Summit League opponent Oral Roberts.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]