MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois (3-4-1) men's soccer knew it would have its hands full when No. 21 ranked Bradley (6-1-2) visited John MacKenzie Alumni Field on Friday evening. A header in the final 10 minutes secured the 1-0 victory for the visitors.

"Everyone knows everyone," said head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "Both coaches want to win and both groups of players want to win so we knew it was going to tough."

The Leathernecks outplayed the Braves for much of the match including a 10-9 shot advantage for the Purple & Gold in the first half.

"I thought for the first 20 minutes we had them going for a bit," continued Johnson. "We were very good for those first 20 minutes. When we hit the crossbar I think we got a little frustrated but our first 20 was exceptional."

A first half frenzy from seven minutes until the 30-minute mark saw Western be turned away on five shots on goal. One of those five was an Alexis Dominguez shot at 8:02 that hit the crossbar.

"If you get the goal while you are playing well, maybe you gather more momentum and it carries you but it became difficult after that," stated Johnson. "They subbed and brought some new energy into the game."

It was more of the same in the second half as Bradley and Western were stuck at zero until 82:28.

Christian Meza and Marcus Schademann hooked up to find Wojciech Wojcik for a  well-executed header to put Bradley up 1-0.

A Nathan Bruinsma shot attempt at 89:52 was blocked to keep the shutout in hand for sophomore goalkeeper Brian Billings (6-1-2).

"I thought the second half was back and forth," said Johnson. "It was pretty even. They scored we did not."

Senior Andy Ryan (3-3-1) made six saves for the Leathernecks.

Western will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Sunday to face Western Michigan at 3 p.m.

Goal Summary
Bradley
82:28 - Served in by Marcus Schademann, headed in by Wojciech Wojcik from five yards.