MACOMB, ILL. - A successful penalty kick off the foot of senior Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit) proved to be all the offense the 22nd-rated Drake men's soccer team needed as the Bulldogs recorded a 1-0 victory at Western Illinois on Wednesday (Oct. 7).

Shrout netted what proved to the game-winning goal at the 49:17 mark to help Drake improve to 6-3-1 overall, while dropping the Leathernecks to 2-7-0. 

"Perhaps getting the No. 1 regional ranking made us a tad nervous, as we looked out of sorts for most of the first half," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented.  "Western Illinois is a young team and they played well, but to go on the road and get a shutout win against a regional rival is a big accomplishment for us."

The win was the first for the Bulldogs over Western Illinois since a 3-2 double-overtime decision on Sept. 1, 2003 and ended Drake's seven-match road trip with a 4-2-1 ledger.

"The seniors realizing they had never beaten Western Illinois in their careers raised their level of play in the second half and grabbed control of the tempo," Holmes said.  "This bodes well for us in the long run to play poorly and get a result and it is extremely gratifying."

"Last year we played Western in the last game of our eight-game road trip and we lost from battle fatigue.  This year in the seventh of our seven-game road trip we came out with the win."

The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half as Western Illinois registered 5-4 shot advantage.

The Bulldogs elevated their intensity in the final 45 minutes outshooting the Leathernecks, 9-6, to enjoy a 13-11 margin on the afternoon.

Senior Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) helped anchor a Drake defensive unit that posted its fourth shutout of the season.

"As always, Calvin (Clark) was a rock for us in the back," Holmes stated.

Shrout paced the Bulldogs with a game-high three shots, while redshirt sophomore Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) and junior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley) added two shots apiece.  Western Illinois was directed by a three-shot effort from James Raabe.

Redshirt junior Michael Drozd (Harwood Heights, Ill./Loyola Academy) pulled in four saves for the Bulldogs en route to earning the shutout, while the tandem of Stephan Paterson and Andrew Ryan collected five combined stops for the Leathernecks.

For the first time since notching a 2-0 victory over Marquette on Sept. 6, Drake returns home to the Cownie Soccer Complex to host Evansville in a key Missouri Valley Conference game on Saturday (Oct. 10).  Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.