Brust, Bradley overcome tragedy to make tourney run

Tragedy made Stephen Brust wonder if he would even play a final season of collegiate soccer.

A series of dramatic triumphs has the former Hersey High School star wondering when his career in a Bradley University uniform will end.

Thanks to Brust's clutch goal-scoring, Bradley's 21-year-old program is in uncharted territory with a third-round Division I NCAA Tournament match at 5 p.m. today at Maryland.

Not bad for a program that was winless in three NCAA appearances. Not bad for a team that could have easily crumbled 3½ months ago.

"We've definitely been through a lot this year," Brust said shortly after arriving in Maryland on Friday afternoon. "We're all like, 'Wow, it's really amazing to still be playing soccer in December.'

"On August 12th we didn't know if we would have a season. We've gone through a lot of different emotions."

On Aug. 12, redshirt freshman Danny Dahlquist died in a house fire as a result of a prank involving fireworks. The incident resulted in felony arson charges being brought against three Bradley soccer players.

The team missed nearly 16 preseason training sessions. It also missed the joy of playing the game they loved.

"It has taken a long time this year compared to other years," said Brust, who scored 26 goals en route to Daily Herald All-Area honors at Hersey in 2002. "There was a lot less smiling and joking.

"We had to heal throughout the whole year and the process was slow."

Success helped accelerate the process for Brust and other area products such as Bradley scoring leader Drew DeGurian, a senior midfielder from Neuqua Valley with 7 goals and 7 assists.

Freshman forward-midfielder Paul Tracy (Waubonsie Valley) has played in every game with 2 goals and 2 assists. Freshman midfielder Ephraim Beard (Schaumburg) has 3 assists in 20 games as the Braves have tied the single-season school victory record with 15.

"We knew coming into this year we had a chance to have a special year even before everything happened," Brust said.

Brust had overcome his own obstacles after starting at tiny NAIA Cedarville University as a freshman. He wanted to see if he could play Division I soccer, so he decided to give Bradley a shot.

Head coach Jim DeRose said he could try out, and Brust made it as a walk-on.

He played seven games that year but missed all of the next season from surgery for a hip injury. When he returned he became part of a stingy defense that resulted in second-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors this season.

But matchups led to Brust moving forward to the midfield and regaining his scoring touch. His goal in the 89th minute beat Creighton and gave Bradley its first MVC tournament title.

He scored the first goal in the NCAA tourney opener with DePaul. His tying goal set up Wednesday's dramatic win in penalty kicks at seven-time NCAA champ Indiana.

Brust said he and his teammates haven't used tragedy as a motivator. But they don't stop thinking about Danny Dahlquist.

Thoughts that have become a bit more positive.

"We've definitely smiled a lot more the last couple of weeks," Brust said, "and we've definitely laughed a little more."