Box Score CONWAY, Ark. – Junior midfielder James Wypych (Wellington, New Zealand) scored in the 64th minute as the Drake men's soccer team edged Central Arkansas, 1-0, Saturday night in a Missouri Valley Conference match.
Wypych took a pass from sophomore forward Steven Enna (Overland Park, Kan.) after Enna played it across the face of the box as Wypych scored it off the post for the only goal of evening at the 64:07 mark for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
"Tonight was an excellent performance," said interim head coach Gareth Smith. "This game presented a different type of challenge as it is never easy to perform at a high level after a tough game against No. 1 Creighton and a 20-hour round trip to Arkansas. However, the guys were professional and focused and made sure we got the three points that we came for."
Redshirt junior goalie Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario) tallied four saves as Drake (8-3, 3-0 MVC) posted its second shutout of the season. Central Arkansas (1-10-1, 0-2-0 MVC) is 0-8-1 in its last nine matches. The Bulldogs outshot the Bears, 22-7, including nine shots on goal to four.
"Defensively we were hungry and very well organized which reduced UCA's ability to create opportunities," Smith said. "From an attacking perspective were sharp and possessed the ball well. We had a number of opportunities and just need to continue to refine our ability to be urgent, yet patient, in the middle to final third and finish our chances."
Wypych made his only shot of the contest count as redshirt junior midfielder Ben LeMay (Hugo, Minn.) paced Drake with four shots, including two on goal. Senior defender Alec Bartlett (Overland Park, Kan.), Enna and freshman forward Nic Jaimes (Olathe, Kan.) each had three shots.
Drake has a quick turnaround traveling to Western Illinois on Oct. 13 for a 3:30 p.m. contest. Drake is in first place in the MVC and has a long break before returning to league play hosting Omaha on Oct. 20 before finally welcoming SIUE to Cownie on Oct. 24.
"I am delighted with the performance and the result," Smith said. "The players should be proud of such a high level performance and for finding a way to win. We need to continue to focus on performance and turn our attention to our third difficult road trip in a row at Western Illinois."
