DES MOINES, Iowa - A golden goal by Abby Reed in the 104th minute (103:15) lifted Indiana State (9-8, 4-2 MVC) to a 1-0 women's soccer victory past Drake (3-11-4, 1-4-1 MVC) in double-overtime on Thursday (Oct. 31) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs now travel to Chicago, Ill., to battle third-seeded Loyola in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Sunday (Nov. 3) at 4:00 p.m.
“Tonight we really wanted to come out and have a good start, which we did, despite missing a sitter within the first two minutes of the game,” Drake head coach Lindsey Horner commented. “Our players were up for the battle, but our struggle to score goals this year has been our Achilles heel and it again caused us problems tonight. We had decent quality box-to-box and created numerous chances, but didn't finish the job.”
The Bulldogs had their opportunities to register goals in the affair recording a 17-11 advantage in shots, with six different players netting shots on goal. The Sycamores bettered Drake in shots on goal, 7-6, and posted three shots in overtime, including the game-winner by Reed.
A trio of three-shot performances from senior Paige Dusek (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North), sophomore Rhian Pritchard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) and junior Ashlie Stokes (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City North) paced Drake. Reed registered a game-high four shots for the Sycamores.
Junior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson (Clive, Iowa/Valley) collected a game-high six saves for the Bulldogs, while Indiana State goalkeeper Brittany San Roman also posted six saves.
The contest marked the final home games in the Drake careers of seniors Megan Fisher (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny), Ann Hoover (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada), Kalena Litch (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), Charlie Maxwell (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) and Dusek.
In the regular season encounter between the Bulldogs and Loyola, Drake earned a 1-0 triumph over the Ramblers on Oct. 23 at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
“We're thrilled to be in the tournament and are excited to essentially start our third season,” said Horner. “Tonight gutted our seniors, but I'm convinced they can get it going for Sunday's game."
