The Drake men's soccer team are set to start postseason play at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament this week. The Bulldogs, who enter the bracket as the No. 2 seed and earned a first-round bye, will battle Bowling Green in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The winner between the Falcons and Bulldogs will advance to the championship match to square of against either Missouri State or Evansville this weekend. 

 

The No. 2 Bulldogs finished the regular season 9-4-3 overall and 5-1-2 in MVC play. Drake is 4-3-2 away from home this season, but Wednesday will mark their first neutral site match of the year. The Bulldogs suffered their only loss of the MVC slate in the regular season finale as the Bears took a 1-0 result in Des Moines to decide the regular season title. 

 

Several Bulldog individuals were honored with the MVC's all-league awards prior to tournament play starting. Eskil Gjerde and Preston Kipnusu were each awarded with individual honors as the Co-Midfielder of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Gjerde was a First Team All-MVC selection while Kipnusu landed on the Second Team and All-Freshman squad. Other Second Team All-MVC performers include Ryder Barrett, Austin Holtebeck, and Jackson Kirsch. Head coach Pat Flinn and the rest of the Drake coaches earned the conference's Coaching Staff of the Year award after defying their preseason expectations. 

 

Bulldog Leaders 

Damian Segura | 5 G – A – 11 PTS – 17 SH – 12 SOG – 3 GW  

Preston Kipnusu | 4 G – A – 9 PTS – 21 SH – 8 SOG – 2 GW  

Dalton Visconti | 3 G – A – 7 PTS – 6 SH – 5 SOG – GW  

Tomas Butkovic | 17 GA – 1.06 GAA – 27 SV – 9-4-3 W/L – 6 SHO  

 

Bowling Green is 11-5-2 overall and 4-2-1 in conference. The Falcons, like Drake, have yet to play a neutral site match this season. Bowling Green has been tested this season with matches against power conference teams like Michigan, Michigan State, and Oregon State. The Falcons limped down the stretch with a 1-3-1 record in their last five matches of the regular season, but blitzed UIC 4-1 in the opening round of the MVC tournament. 

 

BGSU head coach Eric Nichols has amassed a record of 189-140-46 over the course of his 20-year head coaching career. 16 of those seasons have come at Bowling Green, where he's gone 130-118-44. 

 

Drake is 0-1-1 all-time against the Falcons after the teams' first ever meeting last season. 

 

Bennett Painter | 13 G – 3 A – 29 PTS – 50 SH – 24 SOG – 4 GW  

Trace Terry | 11 G – 4 A – 26 PTS – 60 SH – 31 SOG – 4 GW 

Alberto Anaya | 3 G – 9 A – 15 PTS – 32 SH – 12 SOG – 2 GW 

Brendan Graves | 21 GA – 1.17 GAA – 69 SV – 11-5-2- W/L – 5 SHO 

 

Scouting Missouri State  

The Bears are the number one seed in the MVC with an impressive season record. The team is 12-2-2 overall with a 7-0-1 record overall and a 6-1-1 home record. Missouri State has strong wins against Pacific, Creighton, and Central Arkansas to add to their convincing run through Missouri Valley Conference play. As a top 2 seed, the Bears earned a bye directly into the semifinals of the bracket. 

 

Michael Seabolt is in his third season leading the Bears' men's soccer program, and his sixth season as a collegiate head coach. Seabolt had a short stint at West Virginia in the mid-2000s but has found more recent success in Springfield. The Bears are 36-8-9 during his tenure. 

 

Drake is 8-19-8 against the Bears all-time. The Bulldogs have not beaten Missouri State in 12 matches, including the 2024 regular season finale. 

 

Jesus Barea | 15 G – 3 A – 33 PTS – 75 SH – 49 SOG – 5 GW  

James Jennings | 7 G – 4 A – 18 PTS – 19 SH – 11 SOG – 3 GW  

Fumiya Shiraishi | 5 G – 4 A – 14 PTS – 25 SH – 11 SOG – GW  

Will Lowry | 6 GA – 0.53 GAA – 18 SV – 9-0-2 W/L – 5 SOG  

 

Evansville is the number five seed going into its game against the Missouri State Bears. The team is 9-6-3 with a 4-3-1 conference record. The Purple Aces took down a previously ranked Western Michigan squad in the first round of the tournament to advance to the semifinals. 

 

Robbie Tarver has found early success as Evansville's head coach. The Aces' leader is in just his second season at the helm with a 13-14-7 record. 

 

The all-time series between Drake and Evansville leans toward the Bulldogs. Drake owns a 22-13-2 advantage in the series including a 2-1 victory in Evansville earlier this season. 

 

Nacho Diaz Barragan | 8 G – 2 A – 18 PTS – 42 SH – 23 SOG – 2 GW  

Jacopo Fedrizzi | 4 G – 4 A – 12 PTS – 14 SH – 5 SOG  

Samuel Owusu | 4 G – 3 A – 11 PTS – 15 SH – 7 SOG – 2 GW 

Michal Mroz | 29 GA – 1.59 GAA – 72 SV – 9-6-3 W/L – 4 SHO  

 

Up Next 

Two wins in the MVC tournament would secure the Bulldogs' the MVC's automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It would mark the Dogs' third trip to the big dance in program history.