DENVER, COLO. - Off to the best start in program history, the Drake women's
soccer team suffered its first loss of the campaign falling 4-1 to Denver in
the championship game of the Denver Invitational on Monday (Sept. 6).
The Pioneers improved to 3-1 overall, while Drake's ledger
dropped to 3-1-2 on the year.
"Denver is a very good team that can play smart, attractive
soccer and they punished us this afternoon when we made mistakes," Bulldog head coach Lindsey Horner commented. "We'll return
home with a list of what we need to improve upon prior to conference play."
The Pioneers scored a mere 23 seconds into the tilt on the
first of two goals on the afternoon from Kalie Vaughn and never looked back en route
to victory.
The lead swelled to as much as 4-0 before freshman Generve Charles (Wausau,
Wis./Wausau East) collected her first career goal at the 63:14 mark for Drake
to establish the final 4-1 margin.
Fellow rookie Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) earned the assist
on the tally.
The Bulldogs were outshot in the contest, 16-6, with Kaitlin
Bast, who also scored two goals for Denver, pacing all players with five
shots. Drake was directed by a
two-shot performance from junior Danielle Figliola (Longmont, Colo./Silver Creek).
Freshman Kalena Litch (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) recorded the only three
saves in the game for the Bulldogs.
Drake's Most Valuable Player honoree in the tournament was
freshman Megan Fisher (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny), while Litch, redshirt junior Ali Walsh (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central)
and Schuling were selected to the all-tournament team.
"There were a lot of good moments for our team on this trip
as we scored goals, connected out of the back and showed a lot of character in
two very different games," said Horner.
"On Friday, we worked to preserve the lead and today we kept fighting
and put one away late. We learned
a lot about ourselves by playing two quality opponents on the road.
The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday (Sept. 12) at
DePaul. Game time is slated for
1:00 p.m.
