DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's soccer team closed out its five-match homestand in a big way on Wednesday evening as it defeated Western Illinois in a 5-0 rout from Mediacom Stadium.
The Bulldogs battled off the hot temperatures outside and stayed hot on the pitch winning their fifth consecutive match and getting their second 5-0 victory in a week's time. Drake has not allowed a goal during its current winning streak and has outscored its opponents by an aggregate score of 17-0.
It was
Isabella Balsley who got the scoring started tonight for the Bulldogs notching her second goal of the season in the 30th minute of play. The junior found the back of the net off a lofted pass from
Zoey Mahoney, where she controlled it to herself in the box and snuck her shot past the charging WIU goalkeeper.
Balsley's goal was the only score in the first half despite the Bulldogs ripping off 11 shots in the 45 minutes of action. Drake picked up the offensive onslaught in the second half, however.
Defender
Alanna Pennington was the second Bulldog on the scoresheet for the night when she connected on a rocket shot attempt just outside of the box over the outstretched arms of the Leatherneck keeper. Pennington, who was recently named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, was assisted by Balsley and
Ava Hall for her second score of the season in the 60th minute.
Just less then 20 minutes after Drake extended its lead to 2-0, the floodgates opened for the Bulldogs. In a span of three minutes, from the 77th to 80th, Drake went on a tear scoring a goal per minute.
Trelyn White tallied the first score followed by freshman
Alexa Aylward and finally
Angela Gutierrez capped off the impressive scoring run.
Gutierrez picked up an assist on White's goal, while White added a helping hand on the goal by Aylward.
Megan Thomsen was credited with the assist on the final goal by Gutierrez.
The Drake defense was swarming against the Leathernecks attack over the course of the 90 minutes and didn't allow a single shot in the contest keeping things calm for Drake goalkeeper
Kate Hopma. The most action allowed by the Bulldog backline was one corner kick awarded to WIU. Comparatively, Drake compiled 29 shots with 18 of them on target.
"This stretch of home games has been fun to continue to see our players fine tune how we are asking them to play and get rewarded for their efforts," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "Tonight's halftime score wasn't an indication of how the game was, but it would have been quite easy to get frustrated for leaving some chances on the table, but I thought we actually played through their block a bit better in the second half. While our is getting all the attention, I do love our willingness to transition to defense and win the ball back quickly, and that has helped us earn these shutouts. This is good momentum heading on the road again, but these nest two away games are going to be great preparation for MVC play."
Drake returns to action this Sunday, Sep. 6, against the South Dakota Coyotes. Kickoff from Vermillion is slated for 1 p.m.
