DES MOINES, IOWA - The 24th-rated Drake men's soccer team garnered goals from three different players and overcame a persistent rainstorm to earn a 3-0 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday evening (Oct. 21) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

The win propelled Drake to 9-4-1 overall, including 4-1 in league play, while dropping the Panthers to 5-6-2 on the year and 2-4 in league action.

"Tonight was very rewarding because we were able to beat a good opponent while resting key players," Bulldog head coach Sean Holmes commented.  "We've been striving all year to show that we have depth to our team and today was concrete evidence to that."

With the grind of the season, coupled with the wet conditions leading up to and during the contest, Holmes made the decision to rest three starters in senior Garrett Webb (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East), senior Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit) and redshirt junior goalkeeper Michael Drozd (Harwood Heights, Ill./Loyola Academy).

"We played a long and arduous road schedule and some of our boys needed a rest and our reserves showed what they are made of tonight," Holmes explained.

The Bulldogs broke into the scoring column first when senior Julien Edwards (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle) collected the ball off a corner kick from junior Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) and found the back of the net with his shot for his first goal of the year at the 5:43 mark.

The lead swelled to 2-0 in the 35th minute (34:18) when sophomore Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) deposited the ricochet off of junior Evan Harrison (Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial) shot that was deflected by Eastern Illinois goalkeeper Sean Molony into the goal for his second tally of the season.

"Hunter (Kennedy) is coming into his own up top, and is a real physical handful," said Holmes.

Kuhn capped the scoring at the 78:22 mark with nearly an identical play to Kennedy's earlier tally as he converted the rebound on redshirt junior Ted Schleisman's (Verona, Wis./Middleton) for his fourth goal of the year.

Making his first start of the season, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec (Haiwatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Kennedy) was stellar pulling in four saves en route to Drake's seventh shutout of the season and fourth in the Bulldogs last four contests.

"Jordan (Kadlec) was very solid in goal and our back four were their old reliable, while Matt (Kuhn) and Luke (Gorczyca) dominated the center of the park," Holmes stated.

The Bulldogs had several other point-blank opportunities to cash in goals in the affair but weren't able to convert in the slick field conditions.

"In fairness, as the game opened up I think we should have finished off a few more chances in the final 20 minutes, but another shutout is equally good," Holmes commented.

Drake outshot Eastern Illinois in the affair, 19-12, with the Bulldogs receiving three shots apiece from Kuhn, Schleisman, Harrison and junior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley).  Mike Picinich paced the Panthers with a game-high four shots.

Molony recorded six saves for the Panthers.

Drake has a quick turnaround as the Bulldogs battle Evansville on Friday evening (Oct. 23) in the NSCAA College Game of the Week.  The showdown of top two of the MVC's best teams will be broadcast nationally on Fox Soccer Channel beginning at 7:07 p.m.