DES MOINES, IOWA - Freshman Generve Charles' (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) goal in the 69th minute (68:09) proved to be all the scoring Drake needed as the Bulldogs registered a 1-0 women's soccer victory over South Dakota on Thursday (Sept. 30) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

Drake improved its slate to 7-2-3, including 4-0-1 on its season-best six-game homestand, while the Coyotes saw their ledger fall to 3-6-1.

"As a staff we wanted to be able to rest some players tonight, which provided our bench with an opportunity to impact the game," Bulldog head coach Lindsey Horner commented.  "For portions of the game it was one-way traffic, but we let South Dakota stay in the game by not capitalizing on our chances."

Charles' tally was set up by a strong feed from fellow freshman Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar), who got the ball to Charles, who in turn struck a ball to the lower left corner to beat South Dakota goalkeeper Jen Ogren.

The Bulldogs statistically dominated the Coyotes in the affair in nearly every category as Drake owned a 22-7 advantage in shots and 6-1 in corner kicks. 

Sophomore Kasey Wellman (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and freshman Paige Dusek (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) sparked Drake with a game-high four shots each. Jenny Teslow and Laura Ekeren paced South Dakota with a pair of two-shot performances.

Ogren registered six saves for the Coyotes, while freshman Kalena Litch (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, collected four saves en route to posting her sixth shutout of the season.

"We talked after the game about our mentality; to stay hungry, improve each outing, and stay focused for 90 minutes," said Horner.  "We don't want to do just enough to beat an opponent, we want to push ourselves to reach our potential and ultimately achieve our goals for the season."

Drake closes its homestand on Sunday (Oct. 3) entertaining Illinois State, the defending MVC champions at 1:00 p.m.