PEORIA, Ill. – The Drake men's soccer team scored four second-half goals in a 4-2 victory over Valparaiso on Tuesday, Nov. 7 in the play-in game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Peoria, Ill. No. 7 Drake advances to the quarterfinals to face tournament host No. 3 Bradley on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Drake (6-10-2) and No. 6 Valparaiso (8-9-1) were scoreless at halftime as each team had nearly similar statistics, including two shots on goal each. The Crusaders ended the draw with Rafael Mentzingen's goal in the 57
th minute after he beat the Bulldogs defense and finished.
The Bulldogs evened the match in the 70
th minute with redshirt sophomore
Alex Peterson's (St. Cloud, Minn.) second career goal. Peterson headed a down ball past the goalkeeper after graduate transfer
Jake Taylor (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) flicked his own header to Peterson off a long throw in by senior
Gabe Edel (Greenwood, Ind.). A flurry of goals followed as each team scored on penalty kicks that were awarded after hand balls. Taylor for Drake and Adan Garcia for Valpo converted the penalty kicks.
With the score 2-2, Drake secured the win in the 82
nd minute with freshman
Leroy Enzugusi's (Marion, Iowa) own header goal off a pinpoint cross by
Nic Jaimes (Olathe, Kan.). Jaimes added a late goal after a push by the Bulldogs' defense and Enzugusi found Jaimes who finished.
"Great collective performance today and delighted by the result," said head coach
Gareth Smith. "It was evident we were up for the challenge from start to finish and the guys should be proud of their application and attitude. The first half was a tight match up with both teams not giving away too many chances. However, we knew that if we were patient with our buildup the game would open up in the second half and we would create more opportunities to score. It was pleasing to see a variety of goals from different areas of the field. Well done to Jake and Alex for stepping up and scoring to lead the way and also congrats to Nic and Leroy for closing the game off and pushing us through to the next round. Our form leading up the tournament has been very good and we are looking forward to taking on Bradley tomorrow."
The winner of Wednesday's match moves to Friday's semifinal against No. 2 Central Arkansas (8-10-0). Bradley held off Drake for a 1-0 home win on Sept. 30. The longtime rivals have met 41 times with the Bulldogs owning a 20-18-3 advantage, including three wins over the Braves last season.
