By Terrence Carter & Brooks Blackburn
As Bradley University begins to enter its final weeks of the Spring 2019 semester, all of the students are stressing about final exams and grades. On the other hand, its men’s soccer team is getting ready to start ramping up its off season training and preparation for their next season. They just recently finished their 2019 spring exhibition games yesterday. They played Western Illinois, yesterday April 28th, and beat them with a score of 4-1. While their spring exhibition games season ended with success, they begin to train even harder for next fall regular season. They will have to transition out graduating seniors and bring in 13 new freshman teammates.
From last season, they have a lot of things to work on to improve their record. While the season did not as go planned, the guys enjoyed the new experiences they went through last season. One person that will not be returning next season is graduating senior, Austin Bell. Bell played forward position for the soccer team. Bell broke into the starting lineup his junior season and has enjoyed every minute of being apart of the team. According to Bell, “I’m going to miss being with my guys and the moments we shared”. Bell got very close with his teammates and calls them his brothers. While he is leaving, he does believe they will be a lot better next season. Transitions in between seasons can be hard and stressful, but a lot of the guys on the team believe it will be an easy transition.
Last season, the men’s soccer team was made up of a lot of guys with experience. They had 17 guys that had two plus seasons of college playing experience. With a majority of those guys coming back, plus the other guys, they look to have a much better season. “We have been working really hard this off season and I’m ready to show how hard we have, as a team, been working”, according to Walid Kherat. Being one of the four 5th year seniors on the team, Walid says he is ready to help lead this team. He wants to help bring a championship back to Peoria. Another one of the 5th year seniors is Jha’Lon Johnson. According to Jha’lon, “One of my goals for next season is to win the Missouri Valley Conference”. While they do know that winning the conference will be tough, they do believe they have a team that can go to the playoffs and have success.