Golden goal lifts Drake to victory over South Dakota
Story by Emily Gregor
Photo by Joel Venzke
It turned out to be another promising weekend for the Drake women’s soccer team.
Friday night, the Bulldogs were able to dominate South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D., adding another win to their streak of two.
Less than three minutes in, senior Brittany Schuling gave the Bulldogs a strong head start, leading 1-0, but in the 10th minute, USD bounced back with Jamie Karch scoring her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
The constant back-to-back equalizers ended up being a pattern throughout the game.
With the score tied, the Bulldogs stayed quiet until the 52nd minute when Rebecca Rodgers, a freshman, assisted by senior Paige Dusek, scored the goal to get the lead back.
The lead was short-lived, for a mere four minutes later in the 56th minute, the Coyotes fought back with Elena Tsakakis scoring the equalizer.
Both teams fought to try to get the advantage for the final minutes of the game, but despite their efforts, the winner was decided in overtime.
Like the rest of the goals in the game, it happened fast.
In the 93rd minute, junior Ashlie Stokes, assisted by Dusek, hit the golden goal for the Bulldogs, winning the game.
“Rhian (Pritchard) connected with Paige, who was swarmed by three defenders, while Stokes sprinted to get in the box. Stokes’ strike was class side-netting,” Drake head coach Horner said in a Drake athletics press release.
Stokes’ game-winning goal was the first for the Bulldogs in overtime this season. Three South Dakota players had two shots apiece while both Stokes and Rodgers had a game-high three shots apiece.
Drake outshot the Coyotes 13-12, while junior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson made three saves for the Bulldogs.
USD goalkeeper Mackenzie Viktor had seven saves for the Coyotes.
The Bulldogs returned to the field to start their quest for the Missouri Valley Conference title on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Evansville (7-2-1, 0-0 MVC), who is riding a four-game winning streak into the tournament.
Drake is meeting the Purple Aces for the 16th time, with the Bulldogs leading the series 9-6.
