OCTOBER 15, 2011

TULSA, Okla. - Senior Matt Kuhn's (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 79th minute (78:53) capped a dramatic comeback for the Drake men's soccer team that saw the Bulldogs (9-4-1) erase a 2-0 first-half deficit en route to earning a 3-2 victory over Oral Roberts (4-8-0) on Saturday (Oct. 15).

The win enabled Drake's senior class of Kuhn, Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Kennedy), Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington), Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier), Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic), Matt Reindl (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) and Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) to equal the Bulldogs' 2010 seniors for most wins by a class in program history with 46.

"Today we looked road weary from our Wednesday overnight trip to Evansville and a long drive south to Tulsa yesterday," Bulldog head coach Sean Holmes commented.  "Giving up two goals was hardly the best way to kick things off, but slowly and surely we chipped away at their lead. We were able to sneak one past before half, which I think was important as whole second half had air of inevitability about it."

"It becomes a little trite to say we're resilient, but there is no better word that embodies our team spirit.  Not for a minute down 2-0 were we ever panicky and the story of the game was different guys stepped up to rescue the point."

The Golden Eagles captured an early 1-0 lead when Cody Lofgren connected on his initial goal of the season at the 3:04 mark.

Oral Roberts extended the margin to 2-0 on the strength of a strike from Aaron Birk in the 14th minute (13:19).

Freshman Thomas Schermoly (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) cut the deficit in half delivering his second goal of the year at the 39:30 mark.  Sophomore Erik Boyer (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy) earned the assist on the tally.

Schermoly evened the affair at two in the 78th minute (77:33) scoring his second goal of the afternoon off an assist from sophomore Bryan Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan./Rockhurst).

Just over a minute later at the 78:53 mark, Kuhn registered what proved to be the game-winning tally off an assist from sophomore Nick Marshall (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) to push the Bulldogs ahead to stay, 3-2.

Aaron Douthit nearly tied the game in the 89th minute (88:34) as his shot struck the post.

"Thomas (Schermoly) scored two very tidy goals, with Erik (Boyer) helping set up the first and Bryan (Jantsch) the second," said Holmes.  "Ross's (Payne) creativity led to our second and third goals.  It really was a cast of thousands that contributed to our victory before Matt (Kuhn) put the finishing touches on the comeback."

Led by a game-high three shots apiece from Kuhn and Schermoly, Drake outshot Oral Roberts, 11-9.  The Golden Eagles were paced by a three-shot performance by Douthit.

"I've never been the coach of a team that creates so much adversity for themselves and yet overcomes it when all seems lost," Holmes explained.  "I think if we continue to find ways to win like we have, then we will be in great shape the rest of this month and into November."

Kadlec collected two saves for the Bulldogs, while Nick Petolick corralled one save for Oral Roberts.

"Jordan (Kadlec) had a couple of great stops in the second half and Michael (Noonan) gave us a burst off the bench after sitting out the last two games," stated Holmes.

Holmes is now looking forward to the Bulldogs final four games of Drake's Missouri Valley Conference schedule.

"Non-conference games stuck in the middle of our conference schedule are always a tricky situation.  I'm not sure we were as focused at kickoff as we needed to be and now we can shift our attention to our remaining four-game MVC schedule that serves as a prelude to the MVC Tournament.  Not that it was a distraction, but I'm glad it is out of the way."

Drake returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 19) when the Bulldogs host SIU Edwardsville in a 7:00 p.m. showdown at the Cownie Soccer Complex.