EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Drake women's soccer team secured its second win of the season on Thursday night defeating SIUE from Ralph Korte Stadium by a score of 2-0.
Eve Blakey produced both goals for the Bulldogs registering her second brace in three games.
"This was a complete performance on the road," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "The only thing this game was missing was a third goal to put the game away earlier. SIUE was very dangerous on the counter, but we did a great job of managing this in the second half."
The Bulldogs made short work of getting on the scoreboard with a goal in the seventh minute of action.
Eve Blakey was once again the one to put the ball in the back of the net with a strike from the center of the box for her fourth goal of the season.
Claire Emmerich and
Angela Gutierrez set up Blakey and registered assists slicing through the Cougar defense and connecting with a couple of touch passes.
A few minutes later, Blakey was back at it again and put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with her second score of the night.
Layla Kelbel started the attack and made her way down the side of the pitch and cut in towards the goal, ripping the ball towards the net. That's when Blakey made her move and rushed into the box extending her leg out just so she could get her foot on the ball to poke it by the SIUE keeper.
Drake kept up the pressure over the remaining minutes in the first half dominating the time of possession battle, but its 2-0 lead held as the half time horn sounded. Over the first 45 minutes of play, the Bulldogs tallied 10 shots with eight coming on target. Meanwhile, Drake's defense limited SIUE to just one shot attempt.
In the second half, Drake looked to add to its lead tallying eight shots in the period, with three coming on net, but to no avail. The Bulldogs still maintained a strong hold on the possession battle, while the defense kept SIUE at bay.
The Cougars managed just one shot in the second half that did challenge Drake goalkeeper
Addie Ford, but the junior made the save to secure the shutout.
In total, Drake recorded 18 shots and 11 shots on net. SIUE was held to just two shots and one shot on goal for comparison. The Bulldogs also tallied 10 corner kicks compared to three by the Cougars.
Gutierrez paced Drake with four shots, while four other Bulldogs recorded two shot attempts on the night.
"I'm really proud of how our team carried the game and how often we threatened them in the final third," Horner added. "Kansas will be a quick turnaround and a great challenge on Sunday, but we are up for it."
Drake will conclude its four-game road trip this Sunday, August 31, with a tilt against the Kansas Jayhawks, who tied with No. 6 ranked Florida State in their match tonight. Kickoff from Lawrence, Kansas, is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
