SPRINGFIELD, MO. - The Drake men's soccer team came within 1:27 of collecting
its first road victory at Missouri State since 2005, but a goal by Gerard
Barbero in the 89th minute (88:33) thwarted that effort forcing overtime, where
the two sides battled to a 1-1 double-overtime tie on Saturday (Oct. 16).
The tie moved the Bulldogs' record to 6-5-2 on the year,
including 2-0-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while the Bears' ledger
improved to 4-5-2 overall and 2-0-1 in league action.
"When you go on the road in the MVC against the team picked
to finish second in the league and pull off a tie you have to be somewhat
pleased," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented.
"The opening quarter of the game we were able to take the game at them
and could have, should have, scored a couple of goals. We spent the rest of the game being
bombarded by shots before regaining our composure in overtime. Perhaps a tie is the best result we
could have earned."
Striking first, the Bulldogs stole the early momentum as
junior Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic) provided Drake a 1-0 lead
scoring his team-leading fifth goal of the season at the 9:14 mark. The tally came off a free kick by
junior Michael Thaden (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley), as Ostrander collected the feed and
with one touch found the back of the net.
The Bulldogs outshot the Bears in the initial stanza, 8-3,
with Ostrander and freshman Bryan Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan./Rockhurst) recording two shots
each.
Missouri State garnered an 11-2 advantage in shots in the
second half with its final shot of the period resulting in Barbero
converting a penalty kick to send the contest into overtime. The penalty shot was set up after Drake
was whistled for a handball in the box.
Neither side collected a shot in the first overtime session
before the Bulldogs posted three attempts in the second overtime period,
including a strike by Thaden at the 105:35 mark, which was saved by Alex Riggs.
The Bears finished the affair with a 14-13 advantage in shots. Senior Evan Harrison (Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial)
led Drake with a team-high three shots, while the Bulldogs also received two
shots apiece from Ostrander, Jantsch and Thaden. Barbero and Paul Paradise directed Missouri State with a
game-high four shots each.
Redshirt junior Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids
Kennedy) and Riggs pulled in five saves apiece.
"The only disheartening thing tonight was not capitalizing
on our chances early when we were the better team," Holmes explained.
Holmes recognized the efforts of redshirt sophomore Jordan Stanley (Roscoe,
Ill./Harlem), Kadlec and redshirt junior Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf).
"Jordan (Stanley) in his third career start was again solid,
while Jordan (Kadlec) proved why he is among the top goalkeepers in the
conference coming up with key saves in critical moments which helped us get a
result," said Holmes. "Charlie
(Schwartz) was again crafty and as he is always trying to be dangerous."
Drake returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 20) as the
Bulldogs welcome archrival Creighton to the Cownie Soccer Complex for a 7:00
p.m. showdown.
