DES MOINES, IOWA ? The Drake men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Wartburg Friday night at Drake Stadium, completing the exhibition portion of its preseason schedule.
“Once again, preseason is a wonderful time to see who is going to be ready seven days from now," said Drake head coach Sean Holmes. "To be honest some players stock went up and others dropped a bit. I was very pleased with the organization of our defense in the first half. I was happy with the way we transitioned in attack and created some good chances up the middle and from the flanks. However converting those chances has to be our focus as we prepare for the season.”
The Bulldogs outshot the Knights 10-9, including a 5-1 margin at the half.
Drake's goal was scored in the 77th minute by redshirt freshman Ted Schliesman (Verona, Wis.). Sophomore Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and freshman Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo.) each recorded two shots for the Bulldogs.
Redshirt freshman Michael Drozd (Hartwood Heights, Ill.) recorded two saves in his debut in goal for the Bulldogs.
“I enjoyed the second half despite the results, for the majority of the time we played 11 freshmen. And they competed at a high level of intensity. The challenge of young players everywhere is not so much in learning to make fewer mistakes, but learning to react properly from mistakes,” commented Holmes.
Wartburg cracked the 65-minute stalemate when Joe Hoeksma scored a goal when his shot bounced in off of the crossbar. The Knights took their final lead with less than seven minutes on the clock when Byung Yi scored on a direct kick.
“The secondary challenge of our team deals with the upper classmen as the seniors learn to cope with the responsibilities of leadership on and off the field. So far they have been doing a terrific job, but 18 year olds need to be led to the water sometimes...pushed sometimes pulled. A good weekends rest and a thorough week of preparation will ready us for our match with Green Bay Friday night,” concluded Holmes.
The Bulldogs open the regular season on Aug. 31 against Green Bay at 8 p.m. at the Cownie Soccer Complex. The Drake women's soccer team opens the evening with a 6 p.m. match against Northwestern.
