PEORIA, Ill. – Darby Kehoe scored his first goal of the season but it came after Eastern Illinois men's soccer had already surrendered three scores, and the Panthers dropped their Missouri Valley Conference opener at Bradley, 3-1, Wednesday evening.

 

Bradley (6-5-1, 1-0 MVC) once again converted on restart opportunities against Eastern (5-5-3, 0-1 MVC). Chris Cutshaw scored in both halves, recording his seventh and eight goals of the seasons. He finished off the rebound of a well-placed free kick in the 13th minute. And even though corner kicks were sparse, with both teams tallying just two apiece, he managed to head in a corner in the 60th minute.

 

Brian Gaul accounted for what proved to be the game-winner in the 24th minute when he headed in a long cross at the right post.

 

Kehoe scored in the final second of the 69th minute with a dribble and attack shot from 20 yards out. Jeff Phillips was credited with his first career assist.

 

“We had the lionshare of possession like we usually do against Bradley,” EIU head coach Adam Howarth said. “But we have to better team defending on restarts, because they continue to be a problem for us and Bradley thrives on them. The guys feel better after the second half because we possessed the ball more. But they did a good job of taking out Alex and Brad with their style of play. That opened it up to other guys but by the time we got adjusted we ran out of time.”

 

Both goalkeepers finished with two saves, as the Panthers (5-5-3, 0-1 MVC) were limited to just three shots on goal. Mike Picinich and Brad Peters were credited with the other two quality chances.

 

Like corners, overall shots were also very even at 10-9 Bradley. The Braves made the most of their five shots on goal.

 

Alex Harrison, Patrick Mabeya, Adam Gartner, Kehoe and Peters went the distance among the EIU field players. Mike Lewis led the reserves with 49 minutes.

 

The Panthers are winless in MVC openers since 2002. They're also still in search of their first win against Bradley since 2000. The Braves, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 10 MVC games dating back to the 2006 season.

Eastern returns to action Saturday for a 7 p.m. MVC contest at Drake.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID