PEORIA, ILL. -- Drake scored three first-half goals in a span of 12 minutes to open the Missouri Valley Conference season with a 3-1 victory at Bradley Saturday night, spoiling the Braves annual homecoming game.
It marked Drake's first victory ever in eight matches at Shea Stadium and it also marked Bradley's first home loss of the season in six matches.
"Bradley always brings huge energy to every game so when you are able to outplay them and come up with a win it is big," said Drake soccer coach
Sean Holmes, whose team improved to 5-3-1 overall. "We got off to an absolutely terrific start scoring those three quick goals.
"This was an important win with the new home and away format in the league," Holmes added. "If you want to contend for the league title you need to win all your home games and steal some on the road."
Drake defender
Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo.) assisted each of the first two goals with free kick services. The first found senior
Luke Gorczyca (Overland Park, Kan.) at the near post and the Drake forward flicked the ball into the back of the net with a back header for his second goal of the year 8:27 into the game.
Shrout started Drake's second scoring play in the 12th minute with a free kick service from just inside midfield. Bulldogs forward
Garrett Webb (Prairie Village, Kan.) collected the ball near the top of the box, maintained possession, then fed the ball back to redshirt sophomore
Michael Noonan, (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) who ripped a 30-yard laser into the top right corner.
The Bulldogs added their final goal in the 21st minute, thanks to an aggressive run down the right flank by senior
Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan.). After making a deep run, Clark centered the ball into a crowd in front of the net. Sophomore
Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa) touched the ball to his left and sophomore
Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) finished off the play by scoring his first goal of the season.
"It was nice to see Hunter (Kennedy) finally score," said Holmes. "Our underclassmen played well, but our veterans like Webb (Garrett), Kuhn (Matt), Clark (Calvin) and Gorczyca (Luke) had good ball distribution and attacked."
Drake had 15 shots, including six on goal. Junior forward
Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) led the way with four shots, including two on goal. Webb followed with three shots.
The Bulldogs own a 3-2-1 mark in their last six contests, all on the road.
"The guys on our team are mature and not really phased by playing on the road," said Holmes, whose team is ranked second in the NSCAA Midwest Regional poll. "They are used to stepping up."
Drake closes out its road stretch with a non-conference date at Western Illinois Wednesday (Oct. 7).
Bradley, which has dropped six straight league matches dating back to last season, fell to 5-4-1 overall including an 0-2 conference mark.
