The Basics
The Drake University women's soccer team heads back home for its final two games of the regular season against two of the new additions to the Missouri Valley Conference.
Drake plays host to Belmont under the lights of Drake Stadium Thursday night at 7 p.m. before taking on Murray State Sunday at noon on Senior Day.
Back in the Win Column
The Bulldogs are coming off their second conference win of the year in a 2-0 shutout at Indiana State on Sunday (Oct. 16). Drake is now 3-7-6 overall with a 2-2-4 MVC record. Senior
Vianey Lopez collected six saves for the fourth time this season en route to Drake's second clean sheet victory of the season. Her 71 saves lead the MVC in total saves so far this year.
Rachel Panther scored her first goal of the season in the Indiana State game and provided her fifth assist of the season later in the match. The five assists are tied for second in the MVC at this point of the season.
What Can Brown Do For You
Senior
Meghan Brown has scored four goals in the last five games. She scored in back-to-back games to become the first Drake player to accomplish that feat since
Libby Helverson last season.
Brown and
Emma Nagel pace the Bulldogs with four goals, which is tied for third in the MVC. Nagel scored a goal for the first time in 10 matches against Evansville on Thursday, Oct. 13, to spark the Bulldog comeback in a 2-2 draw.
Scouting Belmont
The Bruins currently sit at 5-4-5 (3-3-2) on the season and are tied for fourth in the MVC. Belmont is coming off a 2-1 victory over Evansville in its final home game of the season. The Bruins are 2-2 over their last four games.
Three Bruins have scored three or more goals this season. Junior Maci Pekmezian leads the trio with 19 total shots. Last week she had a combined four shots, two goals and two shots on goal. Junior Anna Sweeney follows with 12 total shots. Sophomore forward Leah Firsdon delivered two goals against Evansville. She is the only Bruin to have scored multiple goals in a single game this season.
Sarah Doyle will challenge Lopez for MVC leader in saves this season. Doyle has 66 total saves and has made five-plus saves in eight matches this season.
Series vs. Belmont
Thursday will mark the first meeting between the two programs.
Scouting Murray State
Murray State is slightly above the Bulldogs in the MVC standings with a record of 4-9-3 (3-3-2). The Racers have lost two games in a row, losing to Southern Illinois and Valparaiso. Murray State will travel to UNI before heading to Des Moines to finish the regular season.
Five players have scored two or more goals this season for the Racers. Freshman Sydney Etter has scored four goals including a three-goal performance against Illinois State earlier in the year. Etter has a registered a team-high 21 shots.
Midfielder Lauren Payne has tallied four goals and 18 shots (15 shots on goal). Payne scored a goal in three straight games earlier this season.
Series vs. Murray State
This is the second meeting between the two teams and the first matchup since 2004. Murray State leads the series 1-0 and this will be Racer women's soccer's first trip to Des Moines.
