The Bradley Braves Division II hockey season has only just begun, but it is already heating up. With a 6-2 win over Concordia University on Saturday, the Braves improved their record to 4-5-2 on the season. The team’s growing popularity with the university and growing number of students interested in playing for the team pushed the team to make the decision to have 2 teams play this year; one at the Division III level, and one at the Division II level. This gives Bradley students multiple opportunities to cheer on the Bradley hockey teams.
Andre Liou, a forward on the team, says that the team’s success was due to their solid top three lines. “If we continue to roll three lines and not take too many penalties like we did on Saturday, then we’re sure to get some more wins.”
Logan Osborne, the Division II team’s goalie, played outstanding, stopping all but two shots that he faced. “Having a 4 goal lead is a huge confidence booster and really makes you confident as a goalie,” Osborne said.
Bradley just barely beat Concordia the night before with a score of 4-3. The team came out strong, ready for the sweep Saturday evening. The game started out tense with the score tied at 1 at the end of the first period. As the game went on however, the Braves continued to score, while Concordia stayed at 1. Throughout the next 2 periods, Bradley’s offense managed to sneak 5 more goals past Concordia’s defense while Concordia only managed to get 1 more.
Because it was Greek Night at the Owens center, the stands were packed with Bradley students wearing their Greek letters. The Intrafraternity Council at Bradley University decided that whichever house had the most students attend the game would win 50 dollars towards their philanthropy. Given that there are 5 Delta Upsilon members on Bradley’s Division II team, it was not surprising that Delta Upsilon won the money by a landslide.
Melissa Wos, a senior who had never attended a Bradley hockey game prior to Saturday stated, “I cannot believe I waited until my senior year to go to a hockey game. The atmosphere in the Owens Center is actually really cool.” Bradley University is a unique school in that it is unusual for hockey to be such a popular sport for spectators. However, because so many of the team is in Greek life, it is not unusual for fraternities and sororities to come support the players, especially on Greek Night.
Overall, the weekend was a success for the Braves hockey team. They got the sweep against Concordia, adding 2 wins to their record, and they drew a big crowd to help cheer them on. On Friday, October 27th the Braves will travel to the Quad Cities to take on Augustana College. They play at 7:00 on Friday night and 5:30 on Saturday. With a new and improved record, Bradley hopes to get the sweep against the Augustana College Vikings.