DES MOINES, Iowa – Bulldog men's soccer (1-4-1) picked up their first draw of the season after coming back from an early deficit against the Mavericks of Omaha (2-3-1). Both teams scored all four goals in the first half in a suspenseful contest.
 
Omaha got the scoring started extremely early after Theo Klein drew a foul in the box in the second minute and was awarded a penalty kick. Klein converted to give the Mavericks a 1-0 advantage.
 
The visiting Mavericks continued their early flurry just a few minutes later when Wawa Palga assisted Ede Gramberg for his fourth goal of the year. Drake quickly found themselves down 2-0 just nine minutes into the match.
 
The Bulldogs were able to collect themselves and promptly began their climb back into contention. In the 11th minute, sophomore Damian Segura lobbed a pass into the box where Eloge Iradukunda elevated and headed his second goal of the year past the Omaha keeper.
 
Later, in the 43rd minute, J.P. Pascarella sent up a corner kick that connected on a Brennan Rzewuski header. Rzewuski's attempt came up short but was snared by Evan Carlson who spun and scored his first goal of the year. Carlson's goal knotted the score at 2-2.
 
Tensions flared just before the halftime break as Omaha's Luke Smith picked up a red card in the 44th minute. The Mavericks were then forced to play a man down for the entire second half.
 
Despite the advantage, Drake was unable to claw in front of the Mavericks over the final 45 minutes. The Bulldogs outshot Omaha 16-4 overall and 9-1 in the second half. 10 of the Bulldogs' attempts were on target while Omaha managed just two shots on goal.
 
Iradukunda fired off the Bulldogs' final attempt at a game winning goal in the 90th minute. Iradukunda's shot sailed above the goal as time expired on the 2-2 draw.
 
"[It was] clearly not the start we were looking for," Drake head coach Pat Flinn said. "But I have to give credit to our team. It's not easy to play from behind and we had every excuse to drop our heads after digging ourselves into another hole. The players did the exact opposite…they showed incredible resolve to turn the game around. We have real character and will start winning games if we continue fighting like this. Saturday is a big one and we will be ready for Evansville."
 
The Bulldogs will remain in Des Moines for their next match when Evansville visits Cownie Soccer Complex for the MVC opener. The Bulldogs and Purple Aces will face off on Saturday, Sep. 16 at 7 p.m.