CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Drake University women's soccer team travels to Cedar Falls Wednesday evening for a midweek road clash against in-state rival UNI. The 7 p.m. contest is the first of two key MVC road matches for Drake (5-8-1, 2-1-1 MVC) this week, which plays at Indiana State Sunday, Oct. 21 at 12 p.m. Both road games will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a scoreless home draw with Evansville (4-8-2, 2-1-1 MVC) as the two teams are currently tied for second place in the MVC standings. With three regular season matches remaining, Drake is battling for seeding in the MVC Championship. The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the MVC Championship, which begins with campus site matches Oct. 28. The top two teams receive byes to the semifinals that start Nov. 1 at Loyola (6-6-1, 3-1-0 MVC), which is currently in first place. UNI (7-6-2, 2-2-0 MVC) is tied with Illinois State (7-7-2, 2-2-0 MVC) in third place.
 
Drake recorded its third shutout in its first four MVC matches with the draw. The Bulldogs' defense has been stout in league play in front of standout sophomore goalkeeper Kelsie Stone (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), who has played every minute in between the posts for the Bulldogs, and allowed just one goal in Drake's four conference matches. For the season, Stone, has made 65 saves and allowed 14 goals in the Bulldogs' 14 matches.
 
The Bulldogs and the Panthers have played a back-and-forth series in the past five matches with both teams claiming one win each with three ties. Drake holds a 9-4-4 advantage in the all-time series, that featured three-straight regular season draws from 2014-16 before the Bulldogs' 2-1 victory at home last season. Senior Kelsey Yarrow has a team-high five goals for UNI.
 
Indiana State (6-6-3, 0-3-1 MVC) is looking to move out of the eighth spot in the league standings. The Sycamores have a big midweek game Wednesday night at Illinois State. Senior Katie Wells leads the conference in goals with nine, including scoring one goal in each of the team's past two matches.
 
Following this week of play, Drake hosts Missouri State Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. in the regular season finale. The match against the Bears will be streamed on ESPN3.