Men's Soccer 10/28/2009 11:00:00 PM Drake Athletics

Malicevic Kicks Drake To 2-1 Victory Over Bradley

DES MOINES, IOWA - A reverse flick of the foot, something he has done many times in practice, paid off for junior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley) as it resulted in the game-winning goal in Drake's 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer victory over Bradley on Wednesday (Oct. 28) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

Malicevic, who came off the bench late in the game, scored his third goal of the season on his only shot of the evening in the 86th minute (85:02) off a cross that was flicked in from the corner by redshirt sophomore Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier).

The victory provided the Bulldogs with their 10th win of the season to represent only the second time in school history that Drake has registered consecutive campaigns with double-digit victories, the last coming in the 1987 and 1988 seasons.

The Bulldogs enter a key showdown at No. 25 Missouri State, the current MVC leader, on Sunday (Nov. 1) at 10-5-1 overall, including 5-2 in league play. The Braves saw their ledger drop to 5-10-1 on the year and 0-8 in conference action.

"To get into double-figures in wins is a good feeling with more to come," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented.

The victory also marked the 175th in the coaching career of Holmes.

The Bulldogs were forced to switch to another field at the Cownie Complex as the conditions played a role in the affair explained Holmes.

"Tonight was an interesting game as we had the last-second change of venue that unsettled our preparation a little bit," said Holmes. "The condition of the field didn't help us a lot and the wind was with us for a half and in our face the other half."

Drake broke into the scoring column first when senior Luke Gorczyca (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) connected off a shot on an attempted clearance by Bradley goalkeeper Kyle Orne at the 17:23 mark.

The Braves netted only their third goal of the conference season less than three minutes later (20:04) when Bryan Gaul took a feed from the corner by Jochen Graf and fired a laser that beat Bulldog redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Kennedy) to the lower right corner.

The Braves bettered Drake in shots in the initial stanza before an energized group of Bulldogs earned a 12-6 shot advantage in the second half to best Bradley in shots for the game, 17-13.

"The test of the team was that new guys stepped up to win the game," Holmes stated. "We've driven hard on the seniors all year long and then it is Michael (Noonan) making some fantastic runs down the wing and Kenan (Malicevic) scoring the winner. On the other side Charlie (Schwartz) gave us some quality on the left and that makes me excited not only for tonight's game and for the remainder of the season but for next year. We can't be so senior-focused that no one else is able to win us games."

Orne pulled in a game-high six saves for Bradley, while Kadlec turned in three stops.

"Jordan (Kadlec) stepped up and played well," Holmes said. "As always our two center backs were terrific. The big difference tonight was our outside backs were faster, Brian (Wurst) really got involved as that caused some guys some problems."

Senior Garrett Webb (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) paced the Bulldog attack with a game-high four shots, while senior Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas), senior Brian Wurst (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill South), junior Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) and redshirt sophomore Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) each added two shots. Bradley garnered three shots apiece from Gaul, Rudy Garcia and Chris Cutshaw.