Aug. 29, 2014
Peoria, Ill. - A header by Grant Bell, at the 109:41 mark, sent the Bradley University Braves to a 3-2 double overtime victory over the San José State men's soccer team on Friday evening at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic.
"This is obviously a bitter defeat," head coach Simon Tobin said of his first game leading the Spartans (0-1-0). "When you give up a goal with 19 seconds to play it's always going to be disappointing. However, there are a number of positives that we take out of this game. First and foremost, we played well enough to win, or at least earn the tie, against an NCAA Tournament caliber team. Remember they tied defending national champion Notre Dame a week ago. They are a very good team."
The game, which was originally scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. (PT), didn't end until after 10:30 p.m. There were thunderstorms in Peoria throughout the day and just 10 minutes into the match, which started an hour late, there was a 90-minute weather delay.
When the game finally resumed SJSU had the better of the play, which culminated in senior midfielder Frankie Beauchamp opening his account on a successful penalty kick. The goal in the 32nd minute gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
San José State took its advantage into the locker room and out shot the Braves 5-to-3 in the first 45 minutes.
Bradley (1-0-0) got the equalizer from Andrew Brown at the 62:00 mark after he redirected a shot from inside the six. Just under six minutes later, the Braves struck again. In the 68th minute Jason Lesch sent a one-timer past Spartan keeper Emmanuel Espinoza for a 2-1 lead.
Sophomore striker Eric Mendez got San José State back to level at the 70:27 mark. In transition, sophomore midfielder Johnathan Colunga fed Mendez on a run down the center of the field. Mendez hammer a shot past Niemeyer for a 2-2 score, where it remained into the second overtime period.
"We were specific in our play and created a number of dangerous chances. Eric (Mendez) had a very good goal and he's one of three or four players who can score for us at any time," Tobin said. "That's compared to last year where the team really relied on Rory (Knibbs) to do most of the work."
The teams were even in shots (16) and shots on goal (6). Beauchamp led SJSU with five attempts. Mendez added three, with Knibbs and Greg Harte contributing two each. Espinoza allowed thee goals and made three saves in the loss.
Niemeyer earned the win for Bradley, making four saves. Grant Bell and Christian Okeke had four shots for the Braves.
The Spartans wrap up the weekend at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic on Sunday against Western Illinois University who were defeated by UNLV 2-1 in another overtime affair on Friday. Kickoff is set for 10:00 a.m. (PT) and live stats will be available through www.sjsuspartans.com.
San Jose State (0-1-0) vs. Bradley (1-0-0)
Date: 08-29-14 Attendance: 784
Weather: Warm, humid, chance of thunderstorms
Goals by period 1 2 OT O2 Tot
-------------------------------------
San Jose State...... 1 1 0 0 - 2
Bradley............. 0 2 0 1 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 31:41 SJSU Beauchamp, Frankie (1) Penalty kick
2. 62:00 BRAD Brown, Andrew (1) (Bell, Grant;Otusanya, Josh) - Redirection inside 6 to left post
3. 67:52 BRAD Lesch, Jason (1) (Okeke, Christian;Garcia, Alex) - 1-timer from 8, right service
4. 70:27 SJSU Mendez, Eric (1) (Colunga, Johnathan) - Transition with run into center
5. 109:41 BRAD Bell, Grant (1) (McGraw, Grayson;Okeke, Christian) - Header at far post off quick corner to top of 18
Shots: San Jose State 16, Bradley 16
Saves: San Jose State 3 (Espinosa, Emmanuel 3), Bradley 4 (Niemeyer,
Shay 4)
BRADLEY SOCCER HOTELS AT GRAND PRAIRIE CLASSIC - GAME 1