PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley took advantage of some IUPUI mistakes and treated its home crowd of 1,110 in attendance to a 3-0 victory in the opening round of the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic at Shea Stadium.

"It was much more competitive than a 3-0 score," IUPUI head coach Steve Franklin said. "We gave them all we could give them but just came up short.

"Good teams capitalize on mistakes and they're a really good team."

Bradley's Paul Tracy made it 1-0 in the 29th minute, thanks to some miscommunication along IUPUI's back line. The ball got in behind the IUPUI defense and senior goalkeeper Peter Brasovan and his center backs were unable to sort out who should take control, allowing Tracy to poke the ball into the net for his first score of the year.

"It was a gift," Franklin said. "And unfortunately, it's so much harder to climb out of that hole, that it changed the game."

IUPUI (2-6-1) stayed within a goal until early in the second half when Tracy helped orchestrate Bradley's second goal of the game. Tracy put a shot on goal that Brasovan saved, but the rebound popped loose just beyond the 18-yard box. Carmel-product Chris Cutshaw drilled the carom past Brasovan for some insurance.

The final margin came in the 80th minute when Ken Hickman beat Brasovan in a one-on-one situation off a Justin Bigelow assist.

Despite being outshot 24-14, IUPUI earned six corner kicks while yielding just four. Brasovan made a career-high 11 saves in defeat while two different BU (5-2-1) keepers combined to make four stops. The Bradley goalkeeping duo also benefited from a pair of team saves.

Senior Adrian Conrad led the Jags with four shots while Franklin praised the efforts of Ryan Brumbaugh for his work off the bench in the defensive backfield.

IUPUI will face off against Missouri State at the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic on Saturday at Shea Stadium with kickoff slated for 5:00 p.m.. Missouri State knocked off UIC 2-1 earlier in the evening.