DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's soccer team improved its winning streak to four games on Sunday afternoon as it took down SIUE 3-0 from Mediacom Stadium.
The Bulldogs and Cougars were up for the challenge against one another in the early goings of the match with little offensive action being had between the two sides. The Drake and SIUE defenses made it challenging for their opposition to create opportunities in the attacking areas as one shot was registered between both teams in the first 30 minutes of play.
Drake thought it finally broke the offensive drought in the 33rd minute with a goal, but it was ultimately brought back for an offsides call. However, the Bulldogs went right back on the attack and just three minutes after seeing a score wiped off the board, freshman
Alexa Aylward found the back of the net for her second goal of the season. Aylward raced past the SIUE defender chasing down the cross sent into the box by
Paige Millstone and flicked it into the lower left corner off one hop for the lone goal in the first half.
When play resumed, the Bulldog defense continued to stifle any SIUE attacking threat while the offense looked for some insurance goals to add to the lead. That eventually came courtesy of
Angela Gutierrez.
In the 79th minute, the senior from Oakdale, Minnesota, put Drake up 2-0 striking home a shot off a feed from
Isabella Balsley from the center of the box. Gutierrez saw an opening and sprinted from near midfield unmarked by any SIUE defender giving Balsley an easy target to find.
Just three minutes later, it was Gutierrez making a run again and tracking down a long ball from
Zoey Mahoney that put her all alone with the Cougar goalkeeper. Gutierrez calmly slid one under SIUE's goalie for the final goal of the match and her second of the day leaving zero doubt for a secured victory.
"SIUE was up for the game and forced us to solve some different problems than we have seen so far this season," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "I felt there were certain moments in transition we needed to be more direct and the players executed a big early diagonal ball that certainly put their backline under pressure. We have asked our players to sit in central pockets and combine in the final third and there was a real intent not to avoid pressure by going sideways and backwards but instead enjoy playmaking underneath their centerbacks. We are very pleased to be scoring goals and earning shutouts at home, while also continuing to improve."
Gutierrez was the offensive leader for the Bulldogs with her pair of goals and three shots. She has now scored in four-straight matches and has five goals on the season. Mahoney continued to add to her assist total with two more helpers upping her total to four on the year. Defensively, the Bulldogs were stout allowing SIUE just one shot in the entire 90 minutes which led to goalkeepers
Kate Hopma and
Addie Ford never having the opportunity to make a save. The Drake defense has yet to allow a goal during its four-match winning streak.
The Bulldogs return to the pitch and close out their current homestand on Wednesday, September 2 with a contest against Western Illinois. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. from Mediacom Stadium. Wednesday's match also marks Drake women's soccer annual Mental Health Awareness Game and the team will be wearing green uniforms in support of mental health awareness.
