The Drake women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought, 1-0 decision to Minnesota Thursday evening at Drake Stadium. 

The Gophers (2-0-1) maintained possession for most of the match, forcing the Bulldogs (0-2-1) to play defense continuously, especially for the final 60 minutes after the Bulldogs had a player sent off with a straight red card. 

In the fifth minute of play, Minnesota's Delaney Stekr scored on a penalty kick, after Drake was called for a handball in the box. 

The Gophers recorded six shots in the first half and 10 in the second to outshoot Drake 16-5. 

In the 30th minute of play sophomore Lily Overstreet received a red-card for tackling a Gopher player while playing one-on-one defense after sticking with her as she went up field. She stopped the Gopher from scoring, but the Bulldogs were forced to play with 10 players on the field for the rest of the match. 

"It was a worst-case scenario start for us to concede a penalty kick goal in the first five minutes, but I felt we kept a level head to play our way back into the game," said Drake head coach Lindsey Horner. "To go from our attacking corner, to earning a red card by ending the counter and eliminating a goal scoring opportunity in a matter of seconds is an early season mistake we cannot make again, but Lily had to end the scoring chance. To play down a player for 60 minutes in a formation we haven't trained, I was really pleased with our response." 

Senior goalkeeper and MVC Defensive Player of the Week Kelsie Stone saved three shots in her 90 minutes in the net. In the 29th minute of play, she was faced with three back-to-back shots from close range and saved all three. 
 
Drake was unable to get a shot on goal, but sophomore Emma Nagel crafted the Bulldogs' best chance in the 79th minute, but it bounced off the left goalpost and back into a cluster of players. 

"We were very good at absorbing their attack and playing our way out of pressure," Horner added. "With about 15 minutes left we decided to go for it and Emma's chance was inches from equalizing. What is more important to me than the scoreboard tonight was our desire to compete, communicate, and play through pressure. We showed we can get up for headers, get stuck into some big tackles, block shots at the top of the box, ride tackles, and ultimately play with a sense of belief that down a goal and down a man against a big ten team we can get one back." 

Drake's defensive efforts, which successfully blocked nearly all of Minnesota's chances, were led by junior Delaney Goertzen who played all 90 minutes. 

The Bulldogs hit the road to take on Iowa State Sunday in Ames, Iowa. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.