Good news for fans of Missouri Valley Conference soccer this evening as both the Creighton Blue Jays and the Bradley Braves have advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Division I Soccer playoffs.
Bradley defeated the #6 nationally-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, at Indiana, via PK’s following a 1-1 tie through two overtime periods. The final Indiana PK, taken by freshman Michael Roach (Chaminade/Gallagher), hit the crossbar and gave Bradley the 5-4 advantage.
This is the first time Bradley has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men’s tournament, using a 2-0 home victory Saturday versus DePaul to set up tonights win over seven-time national champion Indiana. They will face Maryland this weekend.
Creighton shut out the Southern Methodist Mustangs 3-0 this evening, getting the first in the 6th minute from Tim Bohnenkamp and a 2nd late in the first period. This came after the Mustangs were reduced to 10 men due to a red card called on a flagrant foul in the center of the field.
Creighton is now the lone remaining seeded team on their side of the bracket. They will host the University of Illinois – Chicago Flames, winners over Northwestern this evening (and SLU last Friday) There should be live internet video of Saturday’s game as well.
I’ll update as stories come online.
Missouri Valley Conference chimes in
In league history, the Valley has had two teams reach the round of 16 in four seasons, including 2000, 2002, 2004, and this year. In 2000, both SMU (then a Valley member) and Creighton reached the College Cup. In 2002, Creighton reached the College Cup, and in 2004, Tulsa advanced to the round of eight but lost.
