DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's soccer team and Missouri State battled to a scoreless draw Saturday night in Missouri Valley Conference play at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
"A very competitive game against a very well-organized Missouri State team," said Drake head coach
Gareth Smith. "While we would have liked to have gone on and won the game in the end it is a hard-earned point against a good team."
Drake (6-5-3, 1-2-2 MVC) and Missouri State (8-1-5, 2-1-2 MVC) settled for the eighth draw in the all-time series between the longtime rivals, and the second consecutive draw after the same outcome in last season's finale. Junior goalkeeper
Jared Brown (Aurora, Ontario), the top keeper in the MVC, was sensational in goal, making 10 saves. Brown kept the league-leading scorer Josh Dolling, off the board as Dolling took seven shots with five on target. As a team, MSU outshot Drake, 14-5.
Drake managed to take just five shots with just two on goal. Ciszewski had a pair of shots, one on target while Enna had one shot on target.
"Credit to Missouri State as they are always very disciplined with good numbers behind the ball," Smith said. "This made it difficult for us to break them down in open play. Tonight, their pressing arrived a little quicker than than our support play and outlets which made it difficult for to break lines and play through the thirds of the field. We started the game well and tried to build patiently, but they made it tough as they showed a very high work rate and the surface wasn't conducive for retaining possession for long phases. Overall, we were pleased with our applications as well as our defensive organization, but need to improve in our attacking in the middle to final third."
Prior to the home finale, Drake honored its 2018 senior class of
Paul Ciszewski (Germantown, Wis.),
Steven Enna (Overland Park, Kan.),
Nic Jaimes (Olathe, Kan.),
Ryan Merideth (East Moline, Ill.) and
Alex Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.) as well as student assistant coach
Andrew Blalock.
"We want to thank all of our seniors (Paul, Steven, Nic, Alex, Ryan and Andrew) for their service and impact on our program," Smith said. "They have been a joy to work with and will go to do great things!"
The Bulldogs close the regular season at Valparaiso next Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. A Drake win or tie secures a spot in the 2018 MVC Championship, Nov. 7-9-11 in Evansville, Ind., where the top six teams qualify. If Drake loses and Bradley defeats Evansville, the Purple Aces claim the final spot and the Bulldogs will be left out of the field. A loss by Bradley will also secure a spot for Drake. Evansville has the tiebreaker over Drake with its win Oc. 13. A win by Missouri State in its final match versus Central Arkansas would give the MSU Bears a share of the MVC title with Loyola. A win by UCA Bears would give them the title in their final season in the Valley. Loyola has completed its MVC slate of games.
