EVANSTON, ILL. - In an affair marked by 38 combined fouls, the Drake men's soccer team withstood the task of playing a man down the final 31 minutes of regulation and overtime to garner a 2-2 double-overtime tie at No. 17 Northwestern on Friday (Sept. 25).
The tie was the first of the season for the Bulldogs, who stand at 4-3-1 overall, while the Wildcats moved to 3-1-3.
"I'm elated and disappointed all the same time with our result this evening," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented. "To go to a top-20 ranked program in the Big Ten on the road in rainy weather along the shores of Lake Michigan and get a tie is a good result by any measure. To do it a man down for more than half an hour is a testament to our team's character as we could have collapsed but instead we focused on playing a man down and trying to get a result."
Junior Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) provided the Bulldogs with the only goal of the first half connecting on a cross from senior Garrett Webb (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) in front of the net for his third goal of the season at the 27:12 mark.
Drake outshot the Wildcats in the initial stanza, 7-5.
"The first half hour of the game may have been the best, fluid and exciting soccer we've played as we were always looking forward and trying to score and that embodies the style of soccer we always want to play," Holmes said. "You see too many 1-0 college soccer games where teams just want to drudge it out, but both teams wanted to attack and that made for a good game for the spectators."
Fifteen seconds into the second half (45:15), the contest was squared at one as Matt Eliason recorded his team-leading eighth goal of the year for Northwestern.
Senior Julien Edwards (Ottawa, Ontario/De La Salle) was called for a red card at the 77:57 mark forcing the Bulldogs to play a man down the remainder of the evening.
Eamon O'Neil took advantage giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead in the 85th minute (84:29) accepting a feed from Chris Ritter and beating Drake redshirt junior goalkeeper Michael Drozd (Harwood Heights, Ill./Loyola Academy).
Just over two minutes later (86:30), Webb netted the equalizer for the Bulldogs to force the game into overtime. The score was Webb's team-leading fourth goal of the season and came off an assist from senior Luke Gorczyca (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas).
Senior Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) nearly won the game in overtime as his shot was corralled by Northwestern goalkeeper Jonathan Harris in the 107th minute (106:36).
"I thought Calvin (Clark) was absolutely exceptional on defense and in almost scoring the game-winner in the second overtime," Holmes commented.
The match was extremely physical as both sides combined to commit 38 fouls, while six cards were issued.
The Wildcats outshot Drake in the contest, 15-13, with senior Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit), Clark, junior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley) and sophomore Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) leading the Bulldogs with two shots apiece. Eliason registered a game-high five shots for Northwestern.
"Garrett (Webb) was back to his physical best tonight, Kenan (Malicevic) as always had ideas in the attacking third and Matt (Kuhn) continued to find his way around the net," Holmes explained.
Drozd pulled in a game-high five saves, while the duo of Drew Kotlar and Harris combined to record five saves for the Wildcats.
"Michael (Drozd) was terrific in front of his hometown fans," Holmes stated. "If we play with that same grit and determination, we will win a few more games. The next eight days will provide much needed rest for the guys."
Drake returns to action on Oct. 3 as the Bulldogs open Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7:00 p.m. tilt at Bradley.
