The Massachusetts men’s soccer team concludes its non-conference schedule on Saturday as the Minutemen welcome Bradley to Rudd Field.

UMass (1-8-0) is aspiring for a positive result going into Atlantic 10 play next week after dropping another close game to Dartmouth last Saturday. The Minutemen relinquished their one-goal lead on two unanswered goals in the span of nine minutes, eight seconds in the second half to drop their fifth-straight.

“We’ve worked hard enough to win some games that we haven’t won” said UMass coach Sam Koch. “You can only do that so many times before you start not believing that you can do it.”

The Minutemen will have their hands full once again, as the Braves (6-1-2) feature a talented squad that includes two prolific scorers that will test UMass’ defense all afternoon.

Senior forwards Bryan Gaul and Christian Meza give Bradley a difficult tandem for UMass defenders to contain, as Koch called the pair “as good of players as we’ve faced.”

Gaul has a particularly dangerous skill-set that makes him a tough matchup for any defender and account for his team-leading six goals. The Naperville, Ill. native can strike effectively with both feet and has exceptional turning ability that forces defenses to always monitor his position on the field.

“There’s no question he can be a professional,” said Koch.

UMass will be without its top scoring threat from a year ago, as Bryant Craft was sidelined in last Saturday’s game with a pulled quad, which could possibly keep him inactive for next week’s beginning to A-10 play.

The Minutemen will have to rely on their other forwards to step up and fill the void left by Craft, such as Brett Canepa, Connor DeVivo, Chris Roswess and Hellah Sidibe.

Freshman Josh Schwartz could be the spark UMass is looking for, especially in the absence of Craft, as the rookie scored his first career goal in Saturday’s loss at Dartmouth. Although undersized (5-foot-6), Koch feels strongly in Schwartz’s potential to become a great player and hopes he can build off last week’s success.

Bradley will counter the Minutemen offense with a sweeper position, which is able to roam around the defensive zone freely and apply double teams on the ball and create havoc. It is the first time UMass has played against this scheme this season as well as the first time in years, according to Koch.

The Braves defense also has incredible size, with three of its defenders registered below six feet.

In addition to its size, Bradley applies constant ball pressure in its man-to-man defense, which will not afford UMass any comfort in its offensive zone.

Sophomore goalkeeper Brian Billings has started all nine games for the Braves and collected his second shutout of the season last Friday against Western Illinois. The Apple Valley, Minn. native started all 18 games in his rookie season as well and has posted an average goals-against mark of 0.84 this season.

The Minutemen could use a solid outing in order to gain confidence heading into their crucial conference play, which Koch knows are the most important games on their schedule.

Koch placed more importance on playing well on Saturday than getting a win heading into conference play, as he knows that the easiest way to qualify for the NCAA Tournament is to win November’s A-10 tournament in Saint Louis, Mo.

“It’s not life or death because we’re still going to be tied for first place after the game in our conference,” said Koch.

Nonetheless, he later added that a win would go a long way towards helping UMass establish some confidence, explaining that a few of its losses could have gone either way.

“They need the game to go the other way now,” said Koch.

Bradley caps the difficult non-conference schedule for the Minutemen that have included tests against No. 14 Central Florida, Delaware, Jacksonville, Harvard and Dartmouth.

Koch knows that UMass will have to be extra sharp to knock off the Braves.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough test and we have to play our best to beat them,” said Koch.

The game is set to start at 1 p.m. with a possible chance of rain throughout the contest.

Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected].