DES MOINES, Iowa - A trio of second-half goals from reserve Kayla Delgado broke open a 1-1 contest propelling SIU Edwardsville to a 4-1 victory past Drake in women's soccer action on Sunday (Aug. 25) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
“This afternoon was a disappointing performance, especially after setting a high standard for ourselves prior to today,” Bulldog head coach Lindsey Horner commented. “There is no doubt that Friday took a lot out of us, but when you consider the amount of experience we have on the field, our leadership from within should step up and carry us. We can win games with tired legs in the heat, but not when our level of concentration and teamwork is poor. To be thumped like this at home stings, but if we respond and gain knowledge and work to never let a team come onto our home field and take it to us, then we are moving in the right direction.”
Senior Paige Dusek (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) connected on Drake's first goal of the year in the 29th minute (28:46) to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. Dusek delivered a strike at the top of the box beating SIU Edwardsville's goalkeeper Jennifer Pelley off a strong feed from senior Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar).
Delgado netted the equalizer for the Cougars at the 40:57 mark besting junior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson (Johnston, Iowa/Valley) top shelf.
SIU Edwardsville posted an 8-6 advantage in shots in the initial stanza, en route to outshooting the Bulldogs on the afternoon, 19-13.
Delgado put the Cougars ahead to stay scoring in the 63rd minute (62:24). She later added tallies at the 66:06 and 76:00 marks, respectively, to account for the final 4-1 margin.
Delgado paced all players with a game-high seven shots, while Dusek, Schuling and sophomore Mariah Boncek (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) recorded three, two and two shots, respectively, for Drake.
Pelley pulled in a game-high six saves for the Cougars, while Swanson collected five stops for the Bulldogs.
Drake returns to action on Friday (Aug. 30) as the Bulldogs face a 9:30 p.m. CT tilt at Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
