Box Score CHICAGO – The Drake men's soccer team and the Loyola Ramblers battled to a 1-1 double-overtime draw in Missouri Valley Conference action on Saturday night at Loyola Soccer Park in Chicago.
Drake (9-4-2, 3-1-1 MVC) scored first as senior Kyle Whigham (Overland Park, Kan.) tallied his first goal of the season at the 25-minute mark in the opening half. Whigham had his first goal courtesy of a deep shot from 25 yards out that found the back of the net in the far post.
“Tonight was a very good performance on a number of levels,” said interim head coach Gareth Smith. “We were excellent in the first half and dominated the play by executing on the game plan. It was great to see Kyle help us take the lead a spectacular long range drive from 25 yards. This is an aspect of his game that he has been working on.”
Loyola (9-3-4, 2-1-2 MVC), which hadn't allowed a goal since losing 1-0 at Bradley on Sept. 19, got the equalizer against the Bulldogs in the 86th-minute mark as Connor Stevenson scored with an assist from Kevin Engesser.
“I was proud of our work rate and and application. We dropped too deep in the second half and need to learn to manage the lead a little better, but overall a solid performance,” commented Smith.
Sophomore Gabe Edel (Greenwood, Ind.) had the Bulldogs' lone shot on goal in the first overtime, and junior Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa) had the only shot on goal in the final overtime session. Edel's shot was blocked while Sunday's was high of the goal. Drake recorded eight shots in the game, and Loyola had 12. Edel led Drake with two shots.
Drake goalie Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario) and Loyola goalie Tim Dobrowski each finished with one save.
Drake closes the 2015 season with another crucial MVC match as the Bulldogs will host the Bradley Braves on Nov. 7, for Senior Night. Drake will honor its senior class with an on-field ceremony prior to the 7 p.m. match.
“We are well positioned going into the final game against Bradley next weekend and depending on results we are still in with a chance of winning the regular season conference.”
