DeKalb, Ill. – The Drake University women's soccer team rallied for a 1-1 draw at Northern Illinois Wednesday, Aug. 9 evening in the team's first of two exhibition matches to prepare for the 2017 regular season.
 
After a scoreless first half, Drake fell behind early in the second half after a goal by Huskies defender Delaney Loprieno in the 51st minute (51:23). However, freshman Olivia Bruce (Lakeville, Minn.) evened the contest with an unassisted goal in the 82^nd minute (82:04). The two teams took penalty kicks after the second half, but didn't keep score of the kicks and completed them for the experience.
 
Senior goalkeeper Haley Morris (Clive, Iowa) played all 90 minutes and recorded four saves. The Bulldogs recorded five shots led by junior Alyssa Brand (Skokie, Ill.) and senior Hannah Wilder (Fisher, Ind.) who each tallied two.
 
"This was exactly what we needed at this point in our preseason," said head coach Lindsey Horner. "We got all of our healthy players some experience and experimented with different combinations of players. We were fairly organized in our structure, but we have so much more potential on both sides of the ball. This was an exciting glimpse of what we are capable of, but we also have to improve quickly on the aspects you can only recreate in a game situation."

The Bulldogs visit Vermillion, S.D. to play South Dakota in their final exhibition match, Aug. 13. First kick against the Coyotes is set for 4 p.m. Drake opens the regular season in Las Vegas for the UNLV Invitational, Aug. 18 and 20.