DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's soccer team closed out its 2024 regular season as it hosted Murray State on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs earned a critical point as they ended the match with a 1-1 draw against the Racers.
Drake came into the match with Murray State having won its last four contests, but found itself facing an early deficit. The Racers struck first in the 13th minute as Kate Stordy connected with Mary Hardy for a goal off a free kick set piece.
Trailing 1-0, the Bulldogs continued to look for an opportunity to bring the match back to even. In the 32nd minute,
Layla Kelbel seized a chance and scored her fifth goal of the year to knot the contest at 1-1.
Eve Blakey, who was credited with an assist on the play, flicked the ball over to Kelbel with a header and then the junior forward did the rest of the work, maneuvering around multiple Racer defenders before ripping one into the lower corner of the net.
The two teams would then go into halftime with the score remaining at 1-1.
After the break, Drake and Murray State continued to battle it out on the pitch with the defensive intensity revved up. The Bulldogs held a slight advantage over the Racers in shots, 4-3, in the final 45 minutes, however, neither side found another goal and the 1-1 score held intact as the final horn sounded.
"That was an interesting game in that the pressure to get a result impacted us and Murray State had nothing to lose," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "There were moments this season that we had to remind our players that getting the double was an absolute reality, so we are very proud of our team for continuing to improve this season. I think we all felt that game was there for us to win, and wanted our seniors to have that moment, but the reality is we are quite beat up at the moment and look forward to a long break to recover."
The Bulldogs and the Racers matched each other in nearly every statistical category with both teams recording eight shots and three coming on target. In goal,
Kate Hopma recorded two saves for Drake as did Griselda Revolorio for Murray State.
With the draw result, Drake earned the No. 2 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which begins on Oct. 31. The Bulldogs will have some time off as they await their next opponent with their next match after receiving a bye into the semifinals slated for Nov. 7 from Springfield, Missouri at 3 p.m. Drake will take on the winner of No. 3 UIC, No. 6 UNI, or No. 7 Illinois State.
