BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - In its finale at the UAB "Soccer For A Cure" Classic on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 13), the No. 23 Drake men's soccer team suffered a 4-3 setback at the hands of Memphis.

The Bulldogs' ledger dipped to 3-2 on the campaign with the loss, while the Tigers pushed their record to 2-1-1.

"When we scheduled seven consecutive road games to begin the season we knew that there would be days like this, but the manner in which we imploded was a little disturbing," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented.  "We snuck a 1-0 lead and should have protected it.  When you score three goals on the road you need to find a way to get a result."

Holmes felt that the after affects of Friday's deluge of rain in the Birmingham area made field conditions difficult.

Redshirt sophomore Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 advantage with his first goal of the season in the 25th minute (24:45) beating goalkeeper Michael Goodlett to the lower left corner.

Justin Watson squared the affair at one at the 31:58 mark taking a feed from Elias Groft and finding the top of the net.

The Tigers assumed the lead for good in the 38th minute (37:35) on Ryan Ruble's header off a corner kick from Thomas Shannon.

Andreas Guentner extended the margin to 3-1 at the 48:05 mark on a shot off a deflection on a save by redshirt junior goalkeeper Michael Drozd (Harwood Heights, Ill./Loyola Academy).

The Tigers added their final tally when Parker Duncan found the back of the net in the 63rd minute (62:05).

Senior Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) cut the deficit to 4-2 at the 66:14 mark converting a Noonan corner kick with a successful header that beat Goodlett to the top of the net.

Sophomore Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic) pulled the Bulldogs to within one registering his first goal of the season at the 79:38 mark.  Redshirt sophomore Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) earned the assist on the tally.

"Michael Noonan was a great spark off the bench and on the positive side at 4-1 we could have packed it in but we battled down to the final seconds," Holmes said.

"We are a senior-laden team and as such we count on the experience and maturity of guys that have played a lot of minutes over their career and today no everyone played like seniors and that will have to be remedied as we push through the rest of the season."

Memphis bettered Drake in shots, 12-9, while the Bulldogs bested the Tigers in corners, 7-5.

"Each goal (Drake surrendered) was more calamitous than the last," Holmes stated. "Memphis played well and in many ways deserved the result."

Clark paced all players with four shots, while Noonan and Ostrander added two shots apiece for Drake.  Duncan paced Memphis with two shots.

Goodlett pulled in four saves to two stops by Drozd.

Noonan, Clark and junior Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) were named to the all-tournament squad

The Bulldogs return to action on Friday (Sept. 18) as Drake faces Oral Roberts at the UMKC Invitational in Kansas City, Mo.  Game time is slated for 5:00 p.m.