EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Drake women's soccer team closed out its four-match road stretch on Saturday afternoon with a win over the Evansville Purple Aces, 2-1, to move to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
It was a very limited first 45 minutes of action between the Bulldogs and the Purple Aces with a defensive battle breaking out. In total there were just three shots in the first half and all three were by Drake. It was the first shot of the match, however, that made a mark.
In the 21st minute, freshman
Kamryn Wray slotted a shot into the back of the net to give the Bulldogs the lead that they took into the halftime break. Wray was assisted by midfielder
Alma Beaton on the goal.
When the action resumed for the second half, the match opened up a bit more offensively with the two sides gaining their footing against one another. Both Evansville and Drake had opportunities on net in the early portion of the period, but it was the Purple Aces who cashed as Taylor Johnson evened the match at 1-1 with a goal in the 59th minute.
After allowing the goal Drake picked up the intensity to regain its lead and turn away the Evansville attack. The Bulldogs' strategy paid off in the 73rd minute when
Angela Gutierrez struck a shot and scored to put Drake back in front.
Trelyn White was credited with the assist on the goal from Gutierrez.
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs stonewalled any hope for another equalizer from Evansville and came away with the 2-1 victory.
"We saw a very good version of Evansville today," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "We absolutely found a way to grind out a road win. It wasn't pretty soccer, but our reaction to their equalizer was huge for us. We had several players put in a good shift out of position and we held on to their last big push in a different formation so I'm proud of our players' ability to adapt on the fly. This will be great to host a home game next weekend before we are back to Indiana again."
Drake outshot Evansville in the match by a count of 11-4 and tallied seven shots on net compared to just two for the Purple Aces. The Purple Aces were also called offsides seven times over the course of the match.
Gutierrez now has seven goals on the season, which leads the team and the MVC. Meanwhile, Wray's score marked the first of her collegiate career. For the assists, Beaton upped her season total to three and White now has four helpers on the season. Goalkeeper
Kate Hopma, who subbed in at halftime for
Addie Ford, made one save in the match.
Drake will be back on the pitch next weekend with a home match versus the 2025 MVC Tournament Champions, UIC, on Sunday, Oct. 4. Kickoff versus the Flames is set for 1 p.m. from Mediacom Stadium.
