EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Drake men's soccer scored four goals in its thrilling season finale at Evansville Thursday evening. Four Bulldogs scored for Drake to come out on top, 4-0, and earn the No. 2 seed next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  

The Bulldogs will host No. 3 Loyola Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Drake Stadium in the tournament opener on ESPN+. 

In the 30th minute, the Aces' Jacob Madden came out of goal in attempt to stop redshirt junior Bradan Allen from scoring. Allen got past Madden and three other Aces to put the Bulldogs on the board, 1-0, with his first career goal. 

"In possession, we took the first 15 minutes to adjust to the surface but after that we developed a rhythm and made good use of possession. I was particularly pleased with our composure and patience in how we worked  to break down Evansville defensively. You can see from our various goal scorers that we are dynamic and can create through good individual qualities or good collective ball movement," said head coach Gareth Smith.

Drake (5-2-1) maintained possession for most of the first half and tallied six shots in the first 45 minutes.  

Evansville (0-9-1) recorded two shots and one on goal in the first half but were unable to get past senior keeper Jared Brown. Drake's defensive efforts were led by graduate Lucas Bartlett to help the Bulldogs earn their third shutout of the season. 

In the 63rd minute, Allen passed to senior Istvan Wilhelms who then scored for the Bulldogs making it a 2-0 game. Wilhelms goal marked his third this season.  

The Aces attempted four shots and three on goal in the second half but all were unsuccessful. Evansville's defense was unable to stop the Bulldogs, as in the 79th minute, junior Leo Fuchs scored as the ball bounced off the back of his leg to get past Madden for his second career goal. 

Less than two minutes after Fuchs scored, senior Leroy Enzugusi found junior Jaden Stevenson who scored, putting the Bulldogs up 4-0. Stevenson's goal marked the first of his career.  

Smith said, "Without a doubt one of our most complete performances in my time at Drake. To get the results we needed to lock in second place in the conference is one thing ,but to do it so convincingly, away from home, was another level. We defended with great intensity, organization, and commitment all over the field. Leroy was relentless and led the front line with his pressing and Lucas Bartlett was exceptional leading our collective defensive block, which was the key to keeping a clean sheet."

Drake's four goals tied the most in the MVC this season. Missouri State is the only other team to record four goals in one game.  

The Bulldogs recorded 13 shots and nine shots on goal in its 90 minutes, compared to the Aces who tallied six shots with two on goal.  

"This was an fantastic team performance  and everyone should be very proud of their contribution. We now turn our attention to our home semi final against Loyola on Tuesday," said Smith.