Exciting.

That is the best way to describe the last three minutes of the Eastern-Bradley soccer match on Saturday.

The Panthers had the opportunity to tie the game with two corner kicks and a free kick, but were unable to find the back of the net.

Senior midfielder Mick Galeski had the best opportunity in the 88th minute when his header to the far post was stopped with Bradley senior goalkeeper Mike Haynes left hand.

Freshman forward Alex Harrison was unable to put the rebound into the goal and the ball was cleared.

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth said the Panthers were just trying to get the ball into the box.

“We were just trying to get the ball in as fast as possible,” Howarth said. “Their goalkeeper made a world class save on Mick’s header. We were just unlucky.”

The Braves (11-4-3, 3-0-2) defeated the Panthers (10-5-3, 2-3-1) for a fifth consecutive match at the Panthers’ final home game of the season.

Bradley broke a 1-1 tie in the 86th minute when senior midfielder Ken Hickman scored the game-winning goal with a shot from the center of the box from twelve yards out.

The ball awkwardly bounced to the right bottom corner of the goal for his second goal of the season.

Eastern took the 1-0 lead in the first half when sophomore defender Chris Pearson scored his second goal of the season off an assist by junior defender Patrick Mabeya.

“We’ve been practicing crosses all week,” Pearson said. “The cross came from the right. I lost the guy marking me and just glanced it off my head.”

The Braves tied the score in the 53rd minute when senior defender Joe Donoho scored his fifth goal of the season on a free kick from 18 yards out. Donoho beat junior goalkeeper Mark Hansen with a strike to the top right corner.

The Panthers were forced to play a man down for much of the second half after Pearson received his second yellow card of the match on a mistimed tackle.

Junior defender Adam Gartner said adjusting was difficult on the Panthers.

“It is difficult,’ Garnter said. “It allows more space in the center and puts more pressure on our forwards. Overall, I think we handled it pretty well.”

Gartner said that not playing safe in the box was the difference in the game.

“We were up 1-0,” Gartner said. “We had a few letdowns. We did not play safe in the box and thats what hurt us.”

Howarth said the condition of the field and the wind were also major factors in the match.

The field turf was in sloppy conditions with players constantly losing their footing.

“Field definitely neutralized the game,” Howarth said. “The wind was a big factor, but I don’t want to take anything away from them they made some great saves.”

Howarth said the bouncing final goal was affected by the field turf.

Eastern will play one more match against an undetermined opponent on Nov. 7 before competing in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The MVC tournament will open on November 14 in Omaha, Neb.

Sophmore defender Chris Pearson tries to stop Bradley’s Ken Hickman Saturday afternoon at Lakeside Field. Pearson scored the Panthers only goal off of a free kick against the Braves. Hickman scored the gaming winning goal en route to the Panthers 2-1 lo

(more…)