OMAHA, Neb. - For the second consecutive season, Bradley eliminated the SIUE men's soccer team at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. A late goal by Christian Meza gave the Braves a 1-0 win Wednesday night from Morrison Stadium at Creighton University.

Meza broke the scoreless tie with 2:44 to play in regulation scoring from the top of the box with Bobby Smith and Wojciech Wojcik assisting on the goal.

The loss ends the 2011 season for the Cougars, who finish with a record of 8-8-4 while No. 22 Bradley moves on to the semifinals to play host No. 3-ranked Creighton Friday night. The Braves improved to 14-4-2 with the win.

"I was pretty proud of the way we performed. I thought it was a game of inches," said SIUE Head Coach Kevin Kalish. "I thought we could have won it."

The Cougars had chances throughout the night as senior Jack Twellman nearly put SIUE in front in the 21st minute when his point-blank shot forced Bradley's goalkeeper Brian Billings to make a diving save.

In the final minutes of the opening half, it was SIUE goalkeeper Scott Meyer coming up with a brilliant save diving to his right to stop a shot from Bradley's Christian Meza. That save kept the match scoreless heading into halftime. Bradley held a 7-6 edge in shots at halftime and outshot the Cougars 16-11 overall.

Kalish said he thought the Cougars held much of the tempo.

"Our ball movement was fantastic," said Kalish. "I thought it was one of our better games all year. I thought we possessed the ball well. We just couldn't get that final strike."

Late in the second half, it appeared as though fellow senior Derek Huffman beat Billings but his shot clamored off the inside of the far post with 2:02 showing on the clock.

Kalish said he was pleased with the performance of the Cougars seniors tonight.

"Those seniors were phenomenal tonight," he said. "They've been good all year but tonight I thought they all had good games."

MVC All-Tournament Team
SIUE - Brian Groark
Central Arkansas - Andrew O'Brien
Drake - Jordan Kadlec and Matt Kuhn
Bradley - Brian Billings and Christian Meza
Missouri State - Gerard Barbero, Thomas Vania and Heath Melugin
Creighton - Andrew Duran, Tyler Polak, Ethan Finlay and Brian Holt (MVP)

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