MACOMB, Ill. – Senior Nick Marshall's (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) first-half goal proved to be all the scoring the Drake men's soccer team needed as the Bulldogs registered a 1-0 victory past Western Illinois on Tuesday (Oct. 1) to extend their shutout streak to four straight games.
“To extend our winning and shutout streaks (380 minutes) is a solid accomplishment,” Drake head coach Sean Holmes explained. “Today was very much a game of two halves. We completely dominated in the first half and then came unraveled in the second, and quite honestly we were fortunate to escape with the win. We were undisciplined, lazy and wasteful with our chances and forced our very good freshman goalkeeper into making big saves in the second half after being unperturbed in the first.”
“Western Illinois at home is always a hard place to play, so to escape with the win on the road is good, but the manner in which we did leaves us wanting more.”
Marshall staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 advantage on the strength of his second goal of the season at the 8:18 mark. Earning the assists on the tally were senior Addison Eck (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and freshman Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West). The assist for Sunday marked the first point in his collegiate career.
“Nick's (Marshall) great run forward result in the winning goal is a tribute to the resolve existing in our senior class,” said Holmes.
Drake posted a 7-4 advantage in shots in the initial stanza, including 3-0 on goal.
The Leathernecks' offense surged in the second half outshooting the Bulldogs, 12-3, en route to recording a 16-10 margin for the game.
“Our inability to take control of the second half was disappointing,” commented Holmes.
Redshirt freshman Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) made all of his game-high seven saves in the second half to extend his shutout streak to 380 minutes.
“Darrin (MacLeod) has been an absolute revelation in goal and to have two such accomplished goalkeepers on our squad is a great luxury," Holmes stated. "Our goal as we headed in conference play was to tidy up our defensive record, so to go from giving up 15 goals in our first five games to zero in our last four shows the breadth of our progress."
Redshirt junior Jarred Arde (Gulfport, Miss./Gulfport) led Drake with a game-high three shots. Husref Jupic and Mario Alvarez posted three shots apiece for Western Illinois.
Yves Dietrich made four saves for the Leathernecks.
Holmes praised the play in the game by Mueng Sunday.
“I'm not sure there is a better true freshman in the country than Mueng (Sunday), you could look anywhere in the country and no one is as complete, athletic and intelligent as this guy,” Holmes explained. “He is as complete a midfielder as perhaps we've ever had here. There were other solid performances today, but none as complete as his.”
Up next for the Bulldogs is a date at Evansville on Saturday (Oct. 5). The 2:00 p.m. contest marks the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both schools.
“It is great to be on a high note heading into our first MVC clash,” said Holmes. “It is disappointing though that we won't have one of our senior captains, but a little adversity through the course of the season will provide opportunities for people to step up and prove they are worthy of playing time.”
