DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's soccer defeated Valparaiso, 4-2, in Missouri Valley Conference action on Saturday night at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
 
Drake (8-3-1, 1-0 MVC) redshirt senior Rebecca Rodgers (Peotone, Ill.) recorded her second career hat trick and senior Hannah Wilder (Wheatfield, Ind.) scored her first goal of the season in the Bulldogs' MVC opener. Valparaiso (7-6-0, 1-1 MVC) scored both goals in the second half, but Drake quickly answered each goal with one of its own.
 
"That was a really solid performance from our team," said head coach Lindsey Horner. "We had the majority of possession and were defensively quite sound with Ali (Smith), Elaine (Gorom), and Brooke (Salisbury) being nearly flawless down the middle. Pleased for our fullbacks to get assists as they are such a pivotal part of starting our attack. Becca's individual impact tonight was impressive, but it was the team performance that shined the brightest. We played to our strengths as we were dominant in the air, in tackles and in possession. This is a great start to our MVC season, and look forward to Indiana State on Friday."
 
Rodgers scored the first three goals for the Bulldogs. Her first goal came in the ninth minute (9:28) as she took a deep pass from senior Ali Smith (Lenexa, Kan.) and shot it over the head of Valparaiso goalkeeper Drew Moulton.
 
In the 53^rd minute (53:29), Rodgers notched her second goal that set off a flurry of scoring by both teams. Valpo answered in the 56:50 minute with a goal by Kelsey Jahn, but Rodgers completed the hat trick in the 59^th minute (59:12). Rodgers leads the MVC with nine goals this season and continues to add to her program-leading career mark with 36 goals.
 
Wilder put Drake up 4-1 in the 76^th minute (76:31) after she headed a ball past Moulton that was set up by senior Kasey Hurt's (Ankeny, Iowa) deep cross from the right side to Wilder, who was in the box. The Crusaders scored their final goal in the 78^th minute (78:13) to cut deficit to 4-2, but the Bulldogs tightened defensively holding them to just one more shot. In the final 12 minutes Drake nearly scored for a fifth time as junior Alyssa Brand (Skokie, Ill.) had a shot on goal and freshman Abby Stephenson (Nevada, Iowa) just missed her first career goal on a shot attempt that went wide.  
 
Following Saturday's game, Drake will stay at home as Indiana State visits Cownie on Oct. 6. First kick with the Sycamores is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3.