MISSOULA, Mont. – The Drake University women's soccer team rallied for a 2-1 win over Fresno State Sunday, Aug. 19 at the Montana Cup.
"It was again a disappointing start for us today, but we instantly regrouped and got better throughout the first half," said head coach
Lindsey Horner. "Today was the first time this season that numerous individuals shined for sustained periods of time in their position. Collectively, we were much better at recognizing some of the cues we have been teaching in order for us to play as more of a unit, which is the nature of an early season game."
Drake (1-1-0), which fell behind 1-0 after a goal by Fresno State (1-1-0) in the third minute, answered quickly with goals from sophomores
Olivia Bruce (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Sam Nosler (Westfield, Ind.).
It is the first career goal for Nosler, who stole the ball from the Fresno State Bulldogs, and sent her shot from the top of the box past the goalkeeper for the equalizer in the 10
th minute (10:08).
Just over two minutes later in the 12
th minute (12:22), Bruce scored the eventual winner off an assist by freshman
Alison Walls (Kansas City, Mo.). Bruce collected Walls' pass and shot the ball from 18 yards out to the far post for her first goal of 2018.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Kelsie Stone (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) finished with five saves for the second-straight match. Stone made several key stops late in the match as Fresno State scrambled for the equalizer, including a save with just two seconds left in the game off a Bulldogs' header coming off a corner kick. Nosler and junior
Annie Schmitz (St. Louis, Mo.) led the Bulldogs' offensively with two shots on goal each.
"I felt Kelsie's bravery and presence in the air was critical for us hanging on to our lead, especially when they threw numbers forward at the end," Horner said. "Our center-backs were much tougher today and will grow more consistent on the ball in the next few weeks. If you breakdown the moments where we needed to demonstrate discipline, grit and putting our body in the way of the ball, or going to ground to win a tackle, we shined. We have a lot of room for improvement, but our mentality and competitiveness were tested today and we didn't break. That is a foundation we can build from. We really felt it would be important to come home from this trip as a better version of ourselves. through these two games our players took a lot of information on board both from successful moments and errors. We have a short turnaround after a travel day to prepare for Big 12 opponent, Kansas State, a game which will undoubtedly put us in a position to be focused from the start and eliminate some of our collective mistakes if we are going to have success."
Drake continues its road trip with a match at Kansas State on Aug. 23. First kick against the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN3.
