DES MOINES, Iowa - Redshirt junior Jarred Arde (Gulfport, Miss./Gulfport) delivered a successful penalty kick with only 16 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Drake men's soccer team to its initial victory of the season in a come-from-behind fashion, 4-3, over Nebraska Omaha (1-3) on Friday (Sept. 13) at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
The goal was the second of the game and season for Arde, who had a hand in three of the Bulldogs' four goals on the evening.
In a nearly even statistical affair, Drake (1-3-1) parlayed a 19-18 advantage in shots in the game into a victory.
The Mavericks claimed the early lead when Craig Buettner connected on his first goal of the year at the 13:40 mark off an assist from Garcia Chava.
The advantage held for more than 10 minutes until sophomore Danton Irelan (Ottumwa, Iowa/Ottumwa) registered his team-leading third goal of the season in the 24th minute (23:42). A nifty give-and-go started by Arde resulted in the tally to even the contest at one.
The Bulldogs went ahead 2-1 at the 30:51 mark when Arde cleaned up a ball in front of the box to beat UNO goalkeeper Matt Grosey. Senior Nick Marshall (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) earned the assist on the goal slicing the ball into the box for Arde.
Drake owned an 11-8 advantage in shots in the initial stanza and took a 2-1 lead into the second half.
The Bulldogs were unable to keep the margin at 2-1 as the Mavericks netted the equalizer at the 57:44 mark off a header by Vance Rookwood. Chava earned his second assist of the evening on the goal.
Garcia then notched a goal of his own in the 73rd minute (72:57) to give UNO a 3-2 lead.
A free kick at the 82:21 mark off the foot of senior Addison Eck (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) delivered into the six-yard box allowed Marshall to register his first tally of the year and square the match at three.
The contest appeared headed to overtime until UNO was whistled for a foul in the box with 16 seconds left in the game.
After an unsuccessful penalty-kick opportunity by Eck in the first half, Arde stepped up and beat Grosey with the game-winning goal.
A pair of four-shot performances by Arde and senior Bryan Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan./Rockhurst) led the Drake attack. Mark Moulton paced the Mavericks with a team- and game-high four shots.
Senior Rich Gallagher (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest Academy) pulled in a game-best six saves in 75 minutes before yielding to redshirt freshman Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) in net, who collected one stop. Grosey finished the evening with five saves for UNO.
Drake returns to action hosting DePaul on Tuesday (Sept. 17) at 7:00 p.m. at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
