OMAHA, Neb. – Drake men's soccer played to its second 1-1 tie in as many matches this season as they left Omaha with a draw versus Creighton.
The heavyweight bout was underway from the opening kickoff as each talented team began to probe their way through the first half. Both sides mustered a few attempts in the early going including shots by Drake's
Jonathan Mendez and
Sam DeLong, but to no avail.
Evan Carlson finally snapped the scoreless stalemate in the 39th minute after passes from
Barrett Kitts and
Malachi Anya. Kitts was assigned a yellow card later in the first half, but the Bulldogs carried their 1-0 lead into the break.
Both offenses came out of the locker room with a little more gumption with eight total tries in the final 45 minutes.
Tomas Butkovic made a big save on a Carter Tavares shot as the second half hit its quarter mark, but Tavares got the upper hand shortly after with a goal off an Angel Lopez corner kick.
The firepower was increased from then on as the regional rivals did their best to jump back on top. Drake had four shots in the final 40 minutes, but none found the target.
The drama also included a trio of yellow cards in the late stages, but neither team could provide an exclamation point as the clock expired with the score still knotted at 1-1.
"Creighton is one of the powers in men's college soccer and certainly in the Midwest," Drake head coach
Pat Flinn said. "To go on the road and perform to the level that our guys were dissatisfied with a draw is a real positive step forward.
Barrett Kitts,
Tomas Butkovic, and
Jack Dancer were all fantastic, and we had three true freshmen play over 60 minutes each. We just need to build off how we competed today. Go Dogs."
DeLong and Mendez led Drake's offense with a pair of shots each while Carlson was again the team's lone goal scorer. Tavares led all players with four shots for the Bluejays.
Butkovic made two saves to one for Creighton's Matthew Hudson while both conceded a goal.
Drake will return to Des Moines for a Wednesday evening bout against Green Bay with kick off slated for 5 p.m. The Bulldogs' match against the Phoenix is the first of four straight within the confines of Mediacom Stadium.
