PEORIA, Ill. – The Drake men's soccer team traveled to Peoria, Illinois for a MVC contest against the Bradley Braves on Saturday afternoon looking to remain unbeaten in conference play. The Bulldogs accomplished that mission scoring a pair of goals in the final eight minutes to lift them past the Braves.
 
It didn't take all that long for the scoring to start between the Bulldogs and the Braves in today's match. Unfortunately for Drake it was Bradley who found the back of the net first. In the ninth minute of play, the Braves took advantage of a Bulldog miscue on a defensive clear attempt. After the ball deflected off a couple of players, Bradley's Ian Ferguson swooped and snuck one past Tomas Butkovic for the early 1-0 lead.
 
As the half moved forward, the offensive opportunities were hard to come by as the Bulldogs ripped off three shots in the first 45 minutes. Bradley on the other hand tallied just two shots in the first half, but still carried its 1-0 lead into the break.
 
Following the break, the Bulldogs continued to look for the equalizer which eventually came in the 82nd minute. After Drake earned a corner kick, the ball was sent into the box and after some juggling between players it came to the feet of Eloge Iradukunda who unleashed a shot into the goal knotting the match at 1-1.
 
With momentum now on their side, the Bulldogs continued on the attack in hopes of taking the lead. Just five minutes after its first goal of the match Drake was rewarded with another. Eskil Gjerde delivered a long pass toward the Braves goal in an attempt to find Barrett Kitts on the other side of the pitch. Kitts gained control of the ball and passed the ball back towards the center of the box where Dalton Visconti slashed past a defender and headed the ball into the goal for his third score of the season.
 
The final whistle sounded three minutes later, and the Bulldogs' 2-1 comeback victory was complete.
 
"That was huge win for us," Drake head coach Pat Flinn said. "Just felt like it wasn't our day for long stretches but the guys kept going. This was a real squad win as we rode the starting group for almost every minute last Saturday and today we don't get a result without key contributions off the bench. Happy for Elo to get his goal and we got a big second half from Sam Delong at the back that allowed us to go for it. It was also an incredible goal between Barrett Kitts and Big D for the game winner."
 
Drake outshot Bradley 11-3 in the match with eight attempts occurring in the second half and three shots coming on target. Jackson Kirsch paced the Bulldogs with five shots recorded, while Erich Legut, Preston Kipnusu, and Cole Schrage also posted a shot.
 
The Bulldogs will return to Des Moines for their next match as they host UIC on Oct. 26. Next Saturday's contest versus the Flames will also be the Senior Day celebration for the men's soccer team.