DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University men's soccer team fell to Missouri State, 1-0, on Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium. Dawson Lee scored the decisive goal for the Bears in the 73rd minute.
 
Drake (0-1-1) earned a 5-4 advantage in shots in the first half, and gained a 2-0 edge in shots on goal. Leroy Enzugusi nearly tallied his first goal of the season with a strike that narrowly missed wide of the left post with six minutes to play in the opening half.
 
The Bears broke through in the 73rd minute as Lee controlled a pass from Nicolo Mulatero, gathered and fired the lone score of the day into the upper-left corner of the net. Missouri State (2-0-0) continued to apply pressure in the second half, notching three shots on goal after Drake limited the Bears to zero in the first frame.
 
"We performed very well again today for long periods of the game against a very good and ranked Missouri state team," said head coach Gareth Smith. "However, to play as well as we did and not take something away from the game is a tough pill to swallow."
 
"Out of possession we were aggressive, well organized, pressed them higher up the field and stopped them being able to build from the back," Smith said. "Back to front and man for man we won our battles which was pleasing defensively. In the first half we used possession well and built well in around their well-organized block. MSU is very well organized so it is always difficult to create chances. In these games the result is decided by a few key moments. We didn't take ours and they did. That's was the difference today."
 
Enzugusi nearly equalized in the waning seconds with a curling shot low and away from the keeper, but Michael Creek extended to collect his third and final save. Jared Brown recorded two saves for Drake while occupying net for all 90 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs return to action when they travel to Bradley on Tuesday, March 9. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
 
"We are encouraged yet again by another very good performance against a very good team," Smith said. "We showed today that we have pushed our performance to a very good level and now we need to take the chances we create and add the result to the performance. We continue the process as we prepare for the next road trip against a tough opponent in Bradley on Tuesday."