EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Drake men's soccer kicked off its 2026 Missouri Valley Conference slate with a road bout at Evansville on Saturday night, capping a men's and women's double-header between the Bulldogs and Purple Aces.
Drake's final marks looked more aggressive than the Aces (2-5-2, 1-0-0), outshooting Evansville 11-6 overall and trying 8 corner kicks to UE's one, but it still came up just short, 1-0.
The Bulldogs did their best to strike first, trying 5 shots to Evansville's two in the opening 45 minutes.
Barrett Kitts started a quick flurry of Drake (4-3-2, 0-1-0) shots midway through the half, which led to subsequent shots by
Chase Wakefield and
Judah Shalit, but none found the target.
The two teams played to a scoreless halftime tally.
Eleven minutes into the second stanza, Shalit was flagged for a yellow card, Drake's first of the match. A few moments later, in the 65th minute, Evansville broke through. Devin Shepherd assisted Carlos Iglesias for a goal, putting the hosts up by a narrow 1-0 margin.
The Dogs started to scrap as the timer ticked toward triple zeros. Wakefield, Kitts, and
Evan Carlson fired off shots.
Cody Bochenski did the same with just under five minutes left.
In the final stages,
Landon Benge struck one on goal, which was saved by Evansville's Hugo Amo, while Carlson tried Drake's final shot of the night as the clock wound under 10 seconds.
Evansville held on for the 1-0 result. Drake's loss was its third of the year, all of which have been by the same final score.
"We looked and felt like a naïve team tonight," Drake head coach
Pat Flinn said. "The chances on goal were even, but it felt less competitive and intense than Drake soccer is when we get it right. I'll own all of that as the coach and will keep focusing on the next action until we get to a level of intensity that we need to get results in the conference."
Wakefield, Kitts, and Carlson all led Drake with a pair of shots each while Benge and
Sam Divis logged the Bulldogs two shots on goal.
In net,
Tomas Butkovic made three saves to Amo's two.
Drake will conclude its 4-game road swing for its next matchup when they visit Saint Louis on Sep. 29. The Bulldogs and Billikens will kick things off at 7 p.m. in STL.
