EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Freshman Nic Jaimes (Olathe, Kan.) scored an early goal to lift the Drake men's soccer team past the Bradley Braves, 1-0, Friday in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 
"A great squad effort today which resulted in a very pleasing performance and result," said Drake head coach Gareth Smith. "I was impressed with how resilient we were defensively as well as our organization and communication, which has been a point of focus and has allowed us to keep two clean sheets in the quarterfinals and semifinals. We showed progress in a number of areas, especially in our ability to close out games strong."
 
The set piece was played beautifully by Drake (11-4-3) junior midfielder Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa), who sent a quick pass off a free kick to Jaimes on the right wing as the Bradley (7-10-1) defense left the forward uncovered with a clear shot on goal as he slipped it past Braves goalie Logan Ketterer in the bottom left corner for the game's lone goal at the 9-minute mark (9:35).
 
"Great credit has to go to Mueng and Nic for their intelligence and quick thinking on the free kick for the goal," Smith said. "Great players are always alive in key moments in the game and punish the opposition when they take plays off, which is what they did."
 
It was the fourth goal of the season for Jaimes, who earned MVC All-Freshman honors Thursday evening, and scored in Drake's 2-0 win over Central Arkansas in the tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday. Sunday has a team-leading seven assists this season as he earned All-MVC first team accoladeson Thursday night.
 
The win over the Braves sends the Bulldogs to the MVC title game on Sunday for the first time since 2009 when the Bulldogs claimed their lone MVC tournament title in program history with a win over Evansville at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
Friday was a defensive match with each team only registering seven shots with the Bulldogs taking three shots on goal and the Braves just one. It was the fifth shutout of the season for Drake goalie Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario) and the Bulldogs' defense. MacLeod collected two saves.
 
Drake and Bradley had just closed the 2015 regular season on Nov. 7 as the teams battled to a 1-1 double-overtime draw at Cownie. Sunday at Ralph Korte Stadium, the Bulldogs will play either host SIUE or No. 5 seed, Loyola. SIUE edged Drake, 3-2, back on Oct. 24 in Des Moines. The Bulldogs and the Ramblers battled to a 1-1 double-overtime draw at Loyola Soccer Park on Oct. 31. Loyola and SIUE will play Friday at 6 p.m. to decide Drake's opponent for Sunday.
 
"We are one step closer to our goal and very much look forward to the championship game on Sunday," Smith said.
 
The MVC Championship is set for Sunday with first kick slated for 1 p.m. The title match will once again by shown on The Valley On ESPN3. Sunday's winner earns the MVC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.