DAVIS, Calif. - Senior Paige Dusek (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) scored a pair of goals in the final seven minutes, but it was not enough to propel the Drake women's soccer team past UC Davis (2-1) on Sunday (Sept. 1) in the finale of the Pacific Soccer Classic, as the Bulldogs (0-3-1) dropped a 3-2 decision.
"So far we have played the way we tell ourselves we are going to,” Drake head coach Lindsey Horner commented. “On each of our Friday games we have battled and laid it all on the line for each other and its been fantastic and on Sundays we have ourselves convinced we might not have enough in the tank. Today we dug ourselves a hole by playing as individuals in the first half. The second half we proved that we are fit and can battle with anyone and the game completely changed, to the point where it felt like we just ran out of time."
The Aggies scored what proved to be the game-winning tally just 2:47 into the contest when Ashley Edwards delivered a goal to give UC Davis an early 1-0 lead.
The Aggies took a 2-0 advantage into the intermission on the strength of a goal from Kiele Argente in the 31st minute (30:16).
The Bulldogs were outshot in the initial stanza, 7-4, including 3-1 on goal.
Drake came out re-focused in the second half and played an even contest for nearly 40 minutes before Andrea Damian provided UC Davis a 3-0 lead with a tally at the 82:11 mark.
The difference might have been greater had junior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson (Johnston, Iowa/Valley) not come up with a stellar save off of Damian's penalty kick at the 68:38 mark.
Just over a minute later in the 84th minute (83:30), Dusek netted her team-leading third goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3-1, scoring off a turnover by the Aggies and beating UC Davis goalkeeper Taylor Jern.
Dusek connected on her second goal of the afternoon at the 86:53 mark delivering on a 1v1 opportunity off a feed from senior Megan Fisher (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny).
The Bulldogs were outshot in the affair, 17-10, with senior Brittany Schuling (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) pacing the Drake attack with a game-high three shots. Dusek, junior Ashlie Stokes (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City North) and sophomore Rhian Pritchard (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) also contributed two shots apiece for the Bulldogs. Argente directed UC Davis with a team-best three shots.
Following her nine-save effort against Pacific on Friday (Aug. 30), Swanson registered a game-high six saves versus the Aggies. Jern made a pair of stops for UC Davis.
“Each season is a process and each game presents a new challenge for us, and from the perspective of playing two tough opponents on the road, this trip can be good for us in the long run,” said Horner. “As we learn more about our group, I am convinced we have a group capable of winning games as long a our approach is humble and we play consistently near our potential. Our work ethic and mentality can't waiver throughout a weekend. The promising part is that we turned it around in the second half today. Andrea Swanson was stellar all weekend in net for us and Megan Fisher and Paige Dusek played like seniors that know what it takes to win.”
Named to the all-tournament squad for the Bulldogs was Dusek and Fisher.
Drake returns home to the Cownie Soccer Complex to open a four-game homestand starting with Wyoming on Friday (Sept. 6) at 7:00 p.m.
