DES MOINES, IOWA - A
picturesque half-bicycle kick from junior Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic) proved to be the
game-winning goal in the 80th minute (79:59) lifting the Drake men's soccer
team to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over UMKC in the Bulldogs' home opener
on Wednesday (Sept. 15) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
Setting up the goal with a header from just to the right of the box was
redshirt junior Charles Schwartz
(Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf), who's efforts helped Drake improve its ledger to
2-3 on the year, while dropping the Kangaroos to 2-2-1.
"I was really pleased with both the performance and the result tonight,"
Bulldog head coach Sean Holmes
commented. "Letting the early lead
slip away after we were so dominant in the first half was a little bit
disappointing at halftime, and then to go down 2-1 despite playing very well
out of the gate and outshooting them was a slightly frustrating, but our
journey this year will be all about incorporating freshmen."
"We added Nick Marshall as a starter today for the full 90 today at the
back and more importantly than adding and integrating the freshmen will be
having the upperclassmen evolve and develop as leaders. So many of them played
such a part last year in our run to the elite eight, but always as a supporting
cast. Now you can see Michael
(Noonan), Thomas (Ostrander), Charlie (Schwartz) and Nick (Foster) are really
the guys that carry the team and as they go so will the team."
The Bulldogs cracked the scoring column first when junior Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids,
Iowa/Cedar Rapids Washington) connected on an unassisted goal at the 13:13
mark.
John Bayron Sosa, a 2010 Hermann Trophy Watch List nominee, tallied the
first of his two goals on the evening in the 31st minute (30:25) to square the
game at one.
Sosa provided the Kangaroos their first lead of the match at the 60:21
mark nailing a lose ball into the net off a corner from Luke Harman for a 2-1
advantage.
Undaunted, the Bulldogs evened the affair at two just 1:01 later in the 62nd
minute (61:22) when redshirt junior Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) intercepted a pass in the box and nailed
a shot past a diving Ken Cooper for UMKC.
"To get our second goal to tie just over a minute after they scored
showed there is a little bit of resolve in this group," Holmes explained. "Every week I see us maturing a little
bit more and that's encouraging."
Ostrander's heroics sealed the victory for the Bulldogs.
Junior Michael Thaden (West
Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) paced all players with seven shots in the game, while
Noonan and Kennedy contributed four and three shots, respectively. Sosa and David Sarabia directed the
Kangaroos with four shots each.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Kennedy) pulled in five saves for Drake,
while Cooper registered seven stops for UMKC.
The Kangaroos entered the showdown between two fierce rivals having won
the last two regular season meetings between the schools.
"Our rivalry with UMKC, because of our Kansas City connection, is always
a good game and we had lost the last two years in a row, so for a new team to
come out and get a result is special," said Holmes
The Bulldogs host Loyola in the
second annual "Greenest Game on Grass" game on Saturday (Sept. 18) at 7:00 p.m. The Bulldogs will be wearing green uniforms in conjunction
with the event that will be auctioned off during the game with proceeds
benefiting the Center on Sustainable Communities. The first 300 fans in
attendance will receive a "Drake Soccer: Greenest Game on Grass" T-shirt.
Additionally, any fan that brings recyclable items such as aluminum cans, glass
bottles and newspaper will get free admission to the showdown with the
Ramblers.
"Its nice to be home, there is a reason that the NCAA rewards you for
away game results as its hard to play four games away like we did with
Michigan, Oakland, Notre Dame and Indiana," Holmes commented. "I think the guys will relish getting
the opportunity to play some home games in the next few weeks."
