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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men's soccer team will open the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship Wednesday night at 6 p.m., when the No. 6 seed Purple Aces take on host and No. 3 seed Bradley at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill.
 
Evansville (10-7-1) closed its regular season with a pair of setbacks to Valley foes, SIU Edwardsville and Bradley.  The Cougars topped the Aces, 1-0, in Edwardsville, Ill., before UE suffered a 2-1, double-overtime defeat to the Braves Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.  Sophomore Mark Anthony Gonzalez scored a goal in the 88th minute, his ninth of the season to send the contest to overtime, before Alon Badat found the game-winner for BU in the 107th minute.
 
Individually, Gonzalez and classmate Faik Hajderovic lead Evansville with 18 points each.  Gonzalez has tallied all of his points on goals, including five game-winning tallies, while Hajderovic has scored just twice, but is tied for the NCAA lead with 14 assists.  Junior Dylan Terry has bolstered the Aces' offensive attack by scoring five times and dishing out five assists for 15 points, and freshman Jared Robinson has registered seven points on two goals and a trio of assists.  Junior goalkeeper Eric Teppen enters the MVC Tournament with a 1.44 goals against average, .757 save percentage, 84 saves and three shutouts.
 
UE has outscored its opponents, 32-29, this season, despite scoring just five goals in its last six outings.  Evansville ranks second in the nation with 43 total assists and has accumulated 107 points.  The Aces have averaged just over 17 shots per game, putting 144 of their 309 attempts on frame for a .466 shot on goal percentage.  UE has conceded 100 corner kicks this season, while earning 76 of its own.
 
Bradley (10-6-2) closed its 2013 regular season with back-to-back road victories, as the Braves defeated in-stat rival Eastern Illinois, 1-0, prior to their victory over Evansville.  Cody Lofgren scored BU's lone goal in its victory over the Panthers to give head coach Jim DeRose his 200th career win, before Aaron Birk and Badat combined for Bradley's two tallies in Saturday's triumph over the Aces.
 
Wojciech Wojcik leads the Braves offensively with 16 points on three goals and 10 assists, while Badat has scored seven goals for 14 points and Christian Okeke has added four goals and three assists for 11 points.  Eight other BU players have found the back of the net at least once this season, including Grant Bell, Birk and Zach Kovacevic, who have all scored twice.  In goal, Brian Billings has posted a 1.18 goals against average with a .788 save percentage, seven shutouts and 78 saves, 11 of which came in his career day against UE.
 
Bradley has netted 26 goals in its 18 matches this season and has conceded 21, with 13 of those coming in the second half.  The Braves have outshot their opponents, 327-259, putting 33.9 percent of their attempts on frame and earning 125 corner kicks to their opponents' 76.
 
Evansville and Bradley have met 22 times on the pitch, with the Braves holding a 13-8-1 advantage in the all-time series.  The two sides played to a scoreless time in their only MVC Tournament tilt, as BU advanced on penalty kicks, 6-5.