MIAMI, Fla. – The Drake men's soccer team hit the pitch for a road non-conference matchup on Saturday evening against the FIU Panthers and suffered a 1-0 defeat from FIU Soccer Stadium.
The first 45 minutes of play went scoreless with neither the Bulldogs nor Panthers finding the back of the net. Offensively, FIU ripped off six shots in the half and had three attempts come on target. Drake goalkeeper
Tomas Butkovic was up to the task, however, and stopped all three Panther attempts.
Drake managed just one shot in the half, an absolute strike off the foot of
Barrett Kitts in the 29th minute, but the attempt was saved.
The second half of action played out similarly to the first as neither side had many opportunities to find the back of the net. The scoreless drought was eventually broken, however, in the 73rd minute by FIU.
The score came via penalty after a FIU player was fouled inside the box. Santi Possu stepped up for the Panthers and put his attempt just past Butkovic's outstretched hand into the lower left corner of the goal.
Looking to find an equalizer, the Bulldogs tallied four shots in the second half and had to come on net, but to no avail before the final horn sounded.
"We knew this would be a really tough road match," Drake head coach
Pat Flinn said. "I am proud of the way our guys fought and wish the result didn't come down to the decision that led to their only goal, but that's soccer sometimes. Next action. Go Dogs."
The Panthers outshot the Bulldogs 12-5 in the match and had six attempts on goal compared to three for Drake. The Bulldogs won the corner kick battle with a slight five to four edge, meanwhile.
Kitts and
Nicholas Gagan tallied two shots apiece on the offensive side for Drake. Butkovic ended his night making five saves in goal.
The Bulldogs now look forward to their first conference game of the season when they travel to Evansville on Sep. 26. Kickoff against the Purple Aces is scheduled for 7 p.m.
