The Basics
The Drake University women's soccer team welcomes the Saint Louis Billikens to Drake Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 1.p.m for its home opener. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. 
 
Not One…Not Two…But Three
The Bulldogs could not have asked for a better start to the 2022 season with three goals in their season opening victory at Kansas City on Thursday, Aug. 18.
 
Junior Emma Nagel scored two goals in the opening five minutes of Thursday's match. Nagel became only the second Bulldog ever in school history to score two goals in a season opening victory. Former Saint Louis Billiken Madelyn Smith provided the assist on Nagel's first goal. Drake's offense not only went through Nagel as freshman forward Layla Kelbel scored her first ever collegiate goal in the 60th minute. Kelbel's goal helped put the game out of reach.
 
Scouting Saint Louis
Saint Louis hosted No. 8 Arkansas on Thursday, Aug. 18 and upset the Razorbacks 1-0 thanks to the solid protection held by their junior goalkeeper, Emily Puricelli. Puricelli earned her 29th career win and her 17th career shutout. 
 
Sophomore forward Emily Gaebe was aggressive as she scored the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute. Gaebe is coming off of an impressive freshman year where she earned the titles of Atlantic 10 Rookie of the year, All-Conference second team. She ranked seventh in the A-10 in goals per game in 2021 and played the most minutes ever by a Billiken freshman. 
 
Series History
This marks the fifth all-time matchup between the two squads, with Saint Louis leading the head-to-head series, 3-1.  The last time these two schools played was in 2019 when Saint Louis defeated the Bulldogs, 3-0. Drake's victory came in 2015 when the Bulldogs knocked in four goals en route to a 4-3 win. 
 
Up Next
Drake will travel north to St. Paul, Minn.,  to battle St. Thomas on Thursday, Aug. 25 with an 11 a.m. scheduled kickoff.