OMAHA, Neb. - The Drake women's soccer team knew to be a contender in the
Missouri Valley Conference race that the ability to win on the road was a must
and for the Bulldogs (12-3-1, 3-0-1 MVC) it is game on after a 3-2 victory past
Creighton (3-9-2, 0-3 MVC) on Thursday (Oct. 11).
The win marked the second-ever triumph for Drake at Morrison
Stadium against the Bluejays and first since 2006.
"I am so proud of our team's effort tonight," Bulldog head coach Lindsey Horner commented. "Playing on the road
has been a challenge for us recently, but we showed up tonight ready
to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Our players demonstrated their
resiliency to come back from a goal behind to
tie it at 1-1, and then again to respond once we lost the lead within
seconds for the game-winner. We executed in big moments tonight and built upon our last game and put together a solid performance, and that's what we have to keep striving for."
The Bluejays assumed a 1-0 lead in the affair when Brittney Neumann
connected on her sixth goal of the year in the 28th minute (27:42). Earning the
assist on the tally was Kaelyn Korte.
Junior Generve Charles (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) netted the equalizer for
Drake at the 31:23 mark.
Neither team was able to score the remainder of the half as
Creighton earned an 8-6 shot advantage in the game's initial stanza.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the 48th minute (47:09) when
junior Megan Fisher (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) connected on her first goal of the season on a
header off a corner kick. Junior Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) was credited with her team-best sixth
assist of the year on the score.
Korte nearly squared the tilt at two at the 61:00 mark as
only a team save by junior Paige Dusek (St. Charles, Ill./St.Charles North) prevented the
goal.
Creighton kept attacking and tied the contest at two when
Jill Richgels' corner kick in the 73rd minute (72:36) bent into the back of the
net. Junior goalkeeper Kalena Litch (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) got her hands on the shot, but
the swirling winds prevented her from corralling the ball for the save.
Less than a minute later at the 73:30 mark, sophomore Ashlie Stokes (Sioux City,
Iowa/Sioux City North) capitalized for the Bulldogs registering what proved to
be the game-winning goal, her team-leading seventh of the year.
Drake was outshot in the tilt, 22-10, including 13-5 on
goal.
The Bulldogs received two shots each from senior Laura Moklestad (Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt), Stokes,
Dusek and Schuling. Neumann led all players with a
game-high six shots.
Litch was stellar in net registering a game-high 10
saves. Her counterpart for the
Bluejays, Katie Jo Swanson made two saves.
Drake returns to action on Sunday (Oct. 14) with an in-state
showdown at Iowa State. Game time
with the Cyclones is set for 1:00 p.m.