OMAHA, Neb. – The Drake University men's soccer team had both of its goals immediately answered by Omaha in a 2-2 draw on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Caniglia Field. The Bulldogs moved to 1-1-1 overall while Omaha now owns a 2-1-1 record.
"It's always frustrating to give a lead away," head coach
Pat Flinn said. "The flip side is that we took two leads on the road against a tough opponent. Our goal as a group is to learn as much about ourselves going into October and conference play. Learning how to play with a lead against a good opponent is part of that process. We are excited to get back at it this Friday at Milwaukee."
Drake goalkeeper
Jonathan Burke saved two shots to his left from Gonzalo Cuevas and Kyle Reese of Omaha in the 11
th and 16
th minutes, respectively. A Maverick foul set up a free kick from
Cory Pitlik in the 23
rd minute that was knocked away by Omaha keeper Nathanael Sallah. The match was scoreless at the halfway point.
Nearly 10 minutes into the second half,
Sam Thornton possessed the ball on the right side of the 18-yard box. Thornton sent the ball to
AJ Franklin at the top of the six-yard box, who kicked it into the back of the net with his right foot.
The Bulldogs led 1-0 at the 55-minute mark, but the advantage did not last long. Omaha's Theo Klein converted the penalty kick for the equalizing goal in the 65
th minute.
Once again, the dynamic duo of Franklin and Thornton delivered for Drake. On a breakaway in the 84
th minute, Franklin threaded a pass to Thornton in the middle of the 18-yard box. Thornton received the pass and quickly fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the net for the go-ahead goal as well as a 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks wasted little time to respond with a game-tying goal from Pilon St-Louis off an assist by Tevin Rochester in the 86
th minute. A little over a minute later,
Louis Yuill pulled a shot to the right and that was the last shot Drake registered. An electrifying, back-and-forth second half resulted in a 2-2 draw.
Drake men's soccer turns its focus to Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. kickoff on the road against the Panthers Friday, Sept. 9.
NOTES
- AJ Franklin and Sam Thornton seem like they've played together before. That's because they have. Franklin and Thornton were teammates at Marquette from 2019-21 before transferring to Drake.
- The 2-2 result on Tuesday is Drake's first tie of the season.
- Franklin's goal in the 55th minute was his second goal of the season and the fifth of his career.
- The head-to-head series with Omaha is even, 2-2-2.
