TULSA, Okla. – The Bulldog men's soccer team picked up it fourth victory of the season guided by consistency on both ends of the pitch. Drake pressured the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts with relentless attacking and sturdy defensive effort throughout the 90-minute match, with impressive individual performances coming from
Tomas Butkovic and
Crew Alvarez.
"Road wins are always huge and tonight was no different," Drake head coach
Pat Flinn said. "ORU was coming off a difficult road trip and had a week to prepare for us, so we knew they would make things difficult for us."
During the first half, the Drake backline played with physicality and pressure, holding the Golden Eagles to just two shots. Offensively, Drake kept its foot on the gas, holding 53 percent of possessions and tallying five total shots in the first frame. Three of those Drake chances, taken by
Judah Shalit,
Chase Wakefield, and
Barrett Kitts, were saved by ORU's goalkeeper Cameron Parma. Despite their numerous chances, the two teams were still scoreless after the first half concluded.
The second stanza was where Crew Alvarez put his stamp on Saturday's game. In the 61st minute,
Jonathan Mendez sent a beautiful cross from the left side of the pitch to
Nicholas Gagan, who then fed Alvarez at the right side of the box for Crew's first goal of the year. Alvarez's connection was one of nine shots for Drake in the second half, which was on brand for the Bulldogs all night.
Tomas Butkovic had an outstanding second half, totaling three saves. During the 71st minute of the game, the Golden Eagles sent a free kick into the box to Chance Anderson, who then shot for the goal but was denied by a diving Butkovic. The Australian keeper had two more key saves in the 85th and 86th minutes of the match, keeping the shutout intact.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs' consistency was too much for the Golden Eagles. Drake had 14 total shots to ORU's seven, with Alvarez's score and Butkovic's four-save effort proving to be the difference in the 1-0 victory.
"I thought we were great against the ball from start to finish," Flinn explained. "But we were too slow early in the game when we would win the ball back, but we grew into it. From midway through the first half until about 10 minutes left it was one way traffic and we could have scored a number of goals. But sometimes you don't and you need to close out a 1-0 win. Tomas made a huge save off the late set piece to help earn the shutout. Next action will be another huge test at FIU next weekend. Go Dogs."
Drake will head to tropical Miami on Sep. 19 for its next non-conference clash. There, the Bulldogs will face off against the Panthers of Florida International.
