DEFENDER CALVIN CLARK (B4) plays a ball in the air past a defender in the Bulldogs’ 2-0 win over DePaul. Photo: Sarah Andrews
Coming into the season with high expectations, the Bulldogs have experienced a rocky start to the season. With out-of-conference play done, the Bulldogs now shift gears heading into their first matches of Missouri Valley Conference play.
On the rain-soaked pitch, in Birmingham, Ala., the Bulldogs mounted a late comeback to add an impressive win to their resume. Matt Kuhn’s (B3) goal in the 89th minute lifted the then No. 23-ranked Bulldogs to victory.
“Tonight was a terrific result under really difficult conditions,” Head Coach Sean Holmes said. “To score a goal on the road with less than two minutes left, yet again, shows the team’s collective perseverance and bodes well for our team in the long run.”
After giving up a goal off of a corner kick late in the first half, the Bulldogs answered quickly as Luke Gorczyca (B4) put a bicycle kick into the back of the net.
After Kuhn put home the winning goal, the Bulldogs next faced a challenge in their next game against the Memphis Tigers.
After gaining an early lead from Michael Noonan’s (B2) first goal of the season in the 25th minute, the Bulldogs fell behind quickly as the Tigers attacked the Bulldog defense. In the next 40 minutes, the Tigers added four goals, leaving the Bulldogs behind for good.
While goals from Calvin Clark (B4) and Thomas Ostrander (B2) started closing the gap, the lead was simply insurmountable for the Bulldogs asndthey fell 4-3.
As the Bulldogs broke even in Alabama, they traveled to Missouri next to play in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Invitational.
In their game against Oral Roberts the Bulldogs had their best offensive showing of the season. With Kenan Malicevic (B3) putting in two goals for the Bulldogs, Drake steamrolled Oral Roberts 4-0.
“We were quick front-to-back and opened the game up side-to-side as well,” Kevin Shrout (B4) said. “We finished the opportunities we had and that was key. It was good to get a lot of goals on the road.”
While the Bulldogs bounced back from a tough loss against Memphis, they once again struggled in the team’s second match of the weekend against tournament host, UMKC.
The Bulldogs gave the UMKC Kangaroos everything they could, but didn’t come out with a win. UMKC bounced to a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs. Although Drake outshot UMKC 26-11, they couldn’t find the back of the net. After the loss, the Bulldogs fell to 4-3 on the season with a matchup against nationally-ranked Northwestern looming.
“It seemed to be a case of two games in one weekend,” Kevin Shrout said. “They finished and we didn’t. We played well in the Oral Roberts game and led in the stats of the UMKC game as well. But they created big opportunities in the first 20 minutes and left ourselves vulnerable as we pushed up later in the game.”
With a tough loss to UMKC, the Bulldogs took on the No. 17 Northwestern Wildcats. In a physical battle, the Bulldogs went into Evanston, Ill., and came out with a double-overtime 2-2 draw.
After Kuhn put in the only goal of the first half and Julien Edwards (B4) was ejected in the 77th minute, the Bulldogs were a man down, but didn’t give up. Two minutes after falling behind in the 84th minute, Garrett Webb (B4) tied up the affair as the game ended in a 2-2 draw after two overtime periods.
Sitting at 4-3-1 on the season, the Bulldogs will look to improve their record as they start play off against Bradley Saturday.
“We have lost some games that we should have won, but we can only look to the next game,” Kuhn said. “After this weekend’s game our focus turns to conference where the battle begins to fight for first place.”
The Bulldogs look to MVC play for almost every game of the rest of the season. Ranked 2nd in the Midwest by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the team looks poised to push through conference play, even with its rocky start.
Crucial games against the Evansville come in October, as the Purple Aces are ranked 9th in the Midwest, according to the NSCAA.
The two most important games on the MVC schedule for the Bulldogs are the Oct. 14 and Nov. 7. Matchups against the Creighton Bluejays. An MVC favorite, and ranked eighth in the Midwest, Creighton will provide the Bulldogs their biggest challenge on the season and help prepare them for the MVC Tournament.
After a tough opening stretch to the season, MVC will allow the Bulldogs to get back on track after coming into the season with high expectations on their mind.
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