DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's soccer team was back in action at Mediacom Stadium on Wednesday night after four-straight games on the road and gave the Des Moines faithful a reason to celebrate with a win over the Omaha Mavericks, 2-1.
It was tough sledding for either side offensively to begin the match with the Bulldogs and Mavericks totaling just four shots through the first 28 minutes of play. Drake logged two shots by
Angela Gutierrez and
Madelyn Smith, while Omaha had shot attempts come from Presley Douglas and Sammie Edwards.
As the half began to wind down, Drake earned an opportunity at the 40th minute with its third corner kick of the half. Maia Bently sent the ball into the far side of the box where
Lauren Kullberg positioned herself to send an attempt towards the net. The senior midfielder then outjumped her defender and sent a header over the goal line for her first goal of the year and put the Bulldogs up, 1-0.
"Omaha always plays us tight, and tonight was no different," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "This is our third game in seven days so we knew we would need contributions from our bench, so we were pleased to for Maia and Lauren to get us the early lead."
The lead for Drake didn't last long, however. Omaha, looking to strike quickly after the reset, pressed forward to try and find an equalizer before the halftime horn. Just two minutes after Drake's goal, Lauren Schmidt was able to get behind the Bulldog backline off a long through ball and made a cut around
Addie Ford for an open goal opportunity. A last-ditch diving effort by a Drake defender tried to deflect Schmidt's shot, but the ball deflected off her foot and trickled into the net for an own goal, drawing the contest back even at 1-1 as the two teams went into the locker rooms.
Coming out of the break, it didn't take long for the scoring to pick back up. Just under a minute after the action resumed, Drake found itself back in front as
Zoey Mahoney came roaring down the far side of the pitch and blasted a shot into the upper portion of the net to make the score 2-1.
Mika Marolly started the play in the midfield and eventually found Smith near the top of the box, who left it off for Mahoney to let it rip.
With still a majority of the final 45 minutes remaining, Drake was able to thwart off another equalizing score from the Mavericks despite some chances. Twice within the last 10 minutes of the match Ford came up big for the Bulldogs in net making two saves to preserve the lead.
As the game clock ticked closer and closer to zeroes, the Bulldogs successfully played keep away to pick up the win on their home turf.
"We knew restarts would be a great opportunity for us to score and with only one practice to prepare for this game that is something we spent time practicing," Horner added. "A bit disappointing that Omaha got behind us for the equalizer and that is something we have to tidy up before MVC play. Credit our players for making the adjustments we asked for at halftime as I felt we did a great job of controlling the half and locking up the win. Fortunately we get some time off to recover before our Mental Health Awareness game."
Despite being outshot by a mark of 11-6, Drake tallied more shots on goal than the Mavericks, 5-4. The Bulldogs also won the corner kick battle, 5-2. Omaha was called offsides nine times in the match, compared to four against Drake.
Mahoney and Kullberg both recorded their first goals of the season in the match and paced the Bulldog attack with two shots on goal apiece. For Marolly, her assist was her first point of the season, while Smith tallied second helper.
It will be a week before the Bulldogs play in their next game as they have the upcoming weekend off. Drake will be back in action as it welcomes South Dakota State to Des Moines on Wednesday, September 10 with kickoff from Mediacom Stadium slated for 6 p.m. CT.
