DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's soccer team hit a rain-soaked pitch at Mediacom Stadium on Thursday afternoon and settled for a 1-1 tie against the visiting Murray State Racers.
As the rain poured down and the wind howled, the offense was going to be hard to come by for either side in the first 45 minutes of action and by the end of the half the scoreboard read 0-0.
Murray State proved to be the more aggressive side totaling five shots in the period and forced Drake goalkeeper
Kate Hopma to make three saves, but the junior was up to the task and kept the Racers off the board. Comparatively, Drake ripped away three shots in the first half with just one attempt on target from
Trelyn White that was saved.
As the weather conditions slightly improved for the second half, so did the scoring opportunities. It was the Racers to strike first, however.
In the 59th minute, Murray State's Breece Bass snuck behind the Drake backline and fired an initial shot that
Addie Ford, who replaced Hopma at the halftime break, stopped. But on the rebound Addison Howell was in the right place with no defenders around her due to the attention being focused on Bass and tucked her shot into a wide-open goal to give Murray State the lead.
It didn't take much time for the Bulldogs to answer, however, as they responded to their first goal allowed at home this season with a score of their own in the 67th minute.
Drake's goal was scored off a freshman-to-freshman connection as
Addy Basler earned the assist after sending a corner kick into the attacking box and
Alexa Aylward tracked the ball down and headed it home for the equalizer.
Soon after Drake evened the match up, the rain and wind picked back up, but that didn't slow the attack for either Drake or Murray. In search for the go-ahead goal, both the Bulldogs and Racers had opportunities down the stretch peppering the goalkeepers with close calls, but both Ford and Griselda Revolorio were on top of their game and the match ended in a 1-1 tie.
"I felt our performance wasn't good enough to deserve a win and a tie was fair," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "We are better than what we are showing and when teams get up to play us, we can't wait until we are behind to play with urgency. I'm pleased with our response for the goal and kudos to Addy and Alexa for capitalizing on the equalizer.
"This is the time of the season we have to make good choices in possession, execute technically, and we cannot switch off in transition moments. I would love a response from the group that looks like consistent performance on Sunday led by example from our seasoned players."
Aylward's goal marked her fifth of the season and marked her second consecutive second half equalizer for the Bulldogs as she knotted the match up against Indiana State in Drake's last match. Basler, meanwhile, upped her assist total to two on the season. In goal, Ford ended her match with five saves while Hopma stopped all three attempts she faced.
Drake will be back on the field at Mediacom Stadium for its next match on Sunday, Oct. 18 against Belmont. Kickoff against the Bruins is scheduled for noon.
