CHARLESTON, ILL. - A pair of second-half goals from senior
Garrett Webb (Prairie Village,
Kan./Shawnee Mission East) lifted the Drake men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory
over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday (Nov. 4).
The Bulldogs enter their
regular season finale against Creighton on Saturday (Nov. 7) with a record of
11-6-1 overall, including 6-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while the
Panthers saw their ledger drop to 6-8-3 on the year and 2-6-1 in league play.
"I'm really proud of our
effort today because playing on a field that was a quagmire and to score four
goals on the road is a good performance," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented. "The first 20 minutes I thought we could have been up four
or five goals because we created so many genuinely good chances."
"We knew Eastern Illinois
was out of the MVC Tournament but they were at home and they are a solid team
having drawn Creighton last week."
Sophomore Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids,
Iowa/Washington) broke a scoreless tie in the 44th minute (43:06) capitalizing
off a misplay by Eastern Illinois goalkeeper Sean Molony for his third goal of
the season providing Drake a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Webb extended the margin
to 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs at the 52:50 mark with his sixth goal on the
campaign on a shot from right to left across the box off an assist by junior Matt Kuhn (Raytown,
Mo./Raytown South).
Less than two minutes
later (54:27), Webb again found the back of the net to push Drake's lead to 3-0
turning a Molony miscue into his seventh goal of the year.
Jerry Maddi cut the
deficit to 3-1 in the 68th minute (67:26) netting his second tally on the
campaign for the Panthers.
Redshirt sophomore Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf,
Iowa/Bettendorf) capped the Bulldogs' scoring output recording his first tally
of the season at the 84:33 mark.
Earning the assist on the play was senior Luke Gorczyca (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas
Aquinas).
Drake outshot Eastern
Illinois, 21-15, led by three shots apiece from Webb, Kennedy and senior Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit,
Mo./Lee's Summit). Kyle Bullock
and Grey Genenbacher paced the Panthers with three shots each.
The Bulldogs' scoring
output allowed Holmes to play 19 players and more importantly rest some of his
starters down the stretch.
"The best part of today
was that with 30 minutes left we were able to substitute our starters and get
some rest for our match with Creighton on Saturday," said Holmes.
Holmes was also pleased
with the effort from junior Evan Harrison (Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial) along
with the play of Kuhn.
"Evan (Harrison) provided
us a lot of effort and creativity up top, while Matt (Kuhn) was dynamic in the
center-mid," Holmes explained. "As
always, our senior-laden back four was a solid presence."
Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Michael Drozd
(Harwood Heights, Ill./Loyola Academy) pulled in six saves for the Bulldogs,
while the combination of Moloney and Shailer Thomas recorded seven stops for
Eastern Illinois.
"It was good to see Mike
(Drozd) healthy and strong again," stated Holmes. "All in all it was a good day."
Drake closes out its
regular season campaign on Saturday (Nov. 7) as the Bulldogs entertain
Creighton in a 7:00 p.m. tilt at the Cownie Soccer Complex. The game will serve as the Drake men's
soccer alumni night as well as Senior Night for eight Bulldogs.
