DES MOINES, IOWA ? The Drake women's soccer team opened the 2007 season with a, 1-0, setback to Northwestern Friday night at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

“While this was not the result we had hoped for, I was really proud of our effort,” said Drake head coach Corbin Stone. “To be fair, a draw would have been a more accurate result. I thought we played inspired soccer, and so did Northwestern.”

The Bulldogs held the Wildcats scoreless through the first 93 minutes of play. But in the 94th minute Alicia Herczeg beat Drake sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Schroeder (Albuquerque, N.M.) to end the stalemate and earn the victory.

Senior forward Sarah Foote (Arvada, Colo.) led the Bulldogs with five shots while Drake sophomore Elizabeth Woerle (Coon Rapids, Minn.) added three shots.

Kelsey Hans led all scorers taking seven shots for Northwestern. The Wildcats out shot the Bulldogs 16-13.

“The game seesawed back and fourth, both teams created chances that should have gone in, and both teams had goals called back. For us to be competitive this early in the season with this level of team is very heartening,” said Stone.

Drake will next face Nebraska on Wednesday (Sept. 5) at 7 p.m. in Drake Stadium.

“I look forward to more gutsy performance from the rest of our team when we play teams like this again, like next Wednesday against Nebraska.”