Macomb, Ill. — Western Illinois men's soccer returns to action Wednesday evening when the Leathernecks travel to face Bradley at Shea Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Western Illinois enters Wednesday's matchup coming off a dominant 4-0 victory over Illinois Springfield on Sunday. The Leathernecks scored four unanswered goals while earning their first shutout of the season.
Nathan Bessinger opened the scoring in the 10th minute, finding the back of the net off assists from Marco Presta and George Frost. Ty Duax added to the lead in the 56th minute before Frost scored twice in the final eight minutes to complete the four-goal performance.
Frost finished with two goals, while Alexis Beltran recorded his first collegiate assist by helping set up Frost's first goal. Jack Schwering also registered two assists in the victory.
The Leathernecks also received a strong performance from goalkeeper Drew Heller, who anchored the Western Illinois defense in his first collegiate start, helping the Leathernecks secure a shutout in his debut.
Western Illinois' defensive performance came just days after a 3-1 loss to DePaul, with the Leathernecks emphasizing defensive discipline and correcting mistakes from that match.
"After the loss, we kind of did film over the weekend because we played on Thursday," Samsonas said. "We watched film, we analyzed what we did wrong. Most of the goals in the last game were mistakes that we should not be making, and Coach was hard on us about that. And we all got together and locked in, focused on defense, and we got a clean sheet today and a shutout at home. So I'm just happy about that, and we got a confidence boost, ready for Wednesday."
SERIES HISTORY
The Leathernecks and Braves have met five times previously, with the all-time series tied at 1-1-3.
SCOUTING BRADLEY
Bradley enters Wednesday following its first win of the season, a 5-3 victory over Green Bay on Sunday. The Braves overcame a 3-2 deficit in the final 15 minutes, scoring three unanswered goals to secure the victory.
Freshman Liam Healey opened the scoring with a first-half penalty kick before Bradley added an own goal early in the second half. After Green Bay rallied to take a 3-2 lead, Anel Kafedzic came off the bench in the 77th minute and quickly leveled the match.
Fjölnir Sigurjónsson then put Bradley back in front in the 87th minute, while Mitch Coughlon added a late penalty kick to seal the victory.
Bradley will look to carry that late-game momentum into Wednesday's matchup as the Braves host the Leathernecks at Shea Stadium.
UP NEXT
Western Illinois travels to Peoria, Illinois, to take on Bradley Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Shea Stadium. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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