SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa - In a true wild and woolly affair, Drake's persistence and determination sparked the Bulldogs (5-3-1) to a 4-2 men's soccer triumph over DePaul (1-5-1) on Wednesday (Sept. 21) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.

"Tonight truly encapsulated our season, scoring great goals, giving up silly goals and making things more difficult than they needed to be," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented.  "When you're up 2-0 against a tough Big East opponent like DePaul, you need to finish the game off and right now I think we're a pretty good team in a lot of ways, but we'll need to be more composed in the final phases of the game.

"Every time we play DePaul it's a real battle and it's a great chance for us to measure ourselves against a conference like the Big East."

Senior Charles Schwartz (Bettendorf, Iowa) began the frenzied scoring affair for the Bulldogs netting his fourth goal of the season only 51 seconds into the contest, delivering a strike off fellow senior Matt Kuhn's (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) shot that deflected off DePaul goalkeeper Joe Ferrari.

The tally proved to be the only one for either side in the game's initial 45 minutes as Drake maintained a 5-2 advantage in shots in the first half.

Showing why he is one of the premier players in the Missouri Valley Conference, Kuhn registered his team-leading fifth goal of the season striking a header mere inches above the ground that went far post to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead at the 50:04 mark.  Sophomore Bryan Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan./Rockhurst) served the ball in from the corner to earn the assist.

"If there is a more complete player than Matt (Kuhn), I've yet to see him in college soccer," Holmes explained.  "His defensive effort, his ability to link our team together and then to finish off chances is second to none. I just think young players have to understand to score goals at a high level you have to be fearless, persistent and ultimately hungry for those opportunities. It's absolutely exciting to watch him play every day whether as a coach, teammate or fan."

Back-to-back goals from David Selvaggi in the 65th (64:23) and 79th minutes (78:24) evened the affair at two.

The Bulldogs responded quickly to the adversity 17 seconds later (78:41), as redshirt junior Jordan Stanley (Roscoe, Ill./Harlem) took a feed from Schwartz and recorded his first-ever collegiate goal on a left-footed strike for what proved to be the game-winning tally.

"It was a great reward for Jordan (Stanley) to score the game-winning goal on a left-footed looper," stated Holmes.  "I'm happy for him as he's really returned to form."

Freshman Thomas Schermoly (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) added the final tally of the evening netting his first collegiate goal in the 85th minute (84:25), pouncing on a defensive miscue by the DePaul goalkeeper and delivering the strike into the net.

"We knew in this four-game stretch at home it would be important to pick up wins and I'm happy for the victory, especially since we played so well for long stretches of the game," Holmes commented.

Drake won the battle of the shots on the evening, 14-11, as the Bulldogs were paced by a game-high four shots from Kuhn.  Adding two shots apiece were Stanley and senior Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic).

"Thomas (Ostrander) probably does more work than any guy I've ever seen and it doesn't always result in direct dividends, but he sets the tempo and work rate for our entire team" Holmes explained.

Redshirt sophomore Rich Gallagher (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest Academy) pulled in a game-high five saves, while Ferrari registered one stop for the Blue Demons.

Low in numbers of available players, Holmes was proud of the effort of his bench in the victory over DePaul.

"Not having Michael (Noonan) due to a red card or Hunter (Kennedy) at 100 percent and Jordan (Kadlec), who missed his fifth-straight game, really showed that there are other guys on the squad capable of stepping up.  Kyle (Whigham) at right back, playing his first full 90 minutes of his career, was really good having to play head-to-head as clever a left-footed player as Antonio Aguilar.  I thought the rest of the back four looked more cohesive and determined tonight, of course playing at home always feels just a little bit better. Charlie (Schwartz) with his opening goal in the first minute as always gave us a great 90 minutes."

The Bulldogs will get a stiff test on Saturday (Sept. 24) at 20th-ranked Northern Illinois comes into the Cownie Soccer Complex for a non-conference showdown.

The contest will serve as Drake's third annual "Greenest Game on Grass". The Bulldogs will don green uniforms that will be auctioned off during the game, with proceeds benefiting the Center on Sustainable Communities and Trees Forever.  The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a "Drake Soccer Goes Green" T-shirt.