DES MOINES, IOWA - A golden
goal by sophomore Laura Moklestad
(Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt) capped a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory for
Drake over Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference women's soccer opener
for both schools on Sunday (Sept. 26) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
Moklestad registered the second of her two goals on the afternoon at the
98:25 mark in the first overtime session off a pass from junior Lauren Berner (Omaha, Neb./Westside).
The victory improved the Bulldogs to 6-2-3 overall and 1-0 in the MVC,
while dropping the Purple Aces' record to 2-7-1, including 0-1 in league
action. The win also moved Drake
to 6-3 all-time in conference openers.
"Each of our three home conference games are going to be ones where we
have to get points from in order to achieve our goals," Bulldog head coach Lindsey Horner commented. "To be down a goal and come back to put
two away demonstrates the type of players we have this year, especially after
going into double overtime on Thursday night."
"Laura Moklestad has been such a hard worker for us this year, and is
someone we have to have on the field. She showed a lot of growth in that she
wanted the ball and worked to make something happen and her efforts clearly
impacted the game this afternoon."
Evansville struck first in a tightly-contested first half when Breanna
Beine found the back of the net for the third time this season connecting off a
deflection by a Bulldog defender in the middle of the box at the 25:57 mark.
The two sides were nearly even in shots in the initial stanza with Drake
maintaining a slim 9-8 advantage.
The Bulldogs came out to start the second half with fire in their eyes
as Drake recorded the first nine shots of the stanza.
The Bulldogs evened the affair in the 53rd minute (52:00) when junior Danielle Figliola (Longmont,
Colo./Silver Creek) intercepted an Evansville pass in the final third and feed
a driving Moklestad, who beat Chaviel Harrison to the lower right of the box.
Both sides had their opportunities over the final 37 minutes of
regulation to score a go-ahead goal, but neither team was able to capitalize.
Drake posted a season-high in shots in the affair, outshooting
Evansville, 26-17. Moklestad led
all players with six shots, while Figliola added five. Beine paced the Purple Aces' attack
with a team-best four shots.
Harrison finished the contest pulling in 11 saves for Evansville, while
freshman goalkeeper Kalena Litch
(Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) recorded six stops for Drake.
The Bulldogs return to action on Thursday (Sept. 30) as Drake entertains
South Dakota in a 5:30 p.m. tilt at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
