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Last Friday night the Bulldog men’s soccer team pulled out an extremely exciting victory, winning on a golden goal in overtime against Missouri-Kansas City in the team’s home opener at Cownie Soccer Complex. The final score was 2-1 with senior Charles Schwartz scoring the game-winner.
Head coach Sean Holmes was happy with the win, but he stressed that the team could have played better down the stretch.
“Once we gave up the silly goal, we really should have been up 3-0 at halftime and we squandered a lot of chances,” Holmes said. “It was good that we demonstrated some resilience, but against a more mature team we aren’t going to get that chance.”
Drake dropped down 1-0, but the team roared back with a goal by Schwartz to tie the game up in the 72nd minute. Drake broke the tie in the 93rd minute when senior Thomas Ostrander drew a foul outside of the left side of the 18-yard box. Schwartz elected to take the kick and netted the game-winning goal for the Bulldogs.
“It was right outside the box, the referee called the foul, I knew I wanted it and when I said that, I knew I could bury it,” Schwartz said. “Being a senior, it was good for me to step up. “
The celebration erupted from the fans to the team to anyone cheering on the Bulldogs. Schwartz was ecstatic at the prospects of scoring a game-winner.
“It was my first game-winning goal, so the first thing I did was I ripped my shirt off, threw it around my head and slid in the grass,” Schwartz said. “All of my teammates came over and we made a huge dog pile. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world.”
Despite all of the excitement from the win, one big loss was senior goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec, who left in the first half with an ankle injury. Redshirt sophomore Rich Gallagher stepped in and filled his shoes.
“Coach has been saying stuff to me since my time at Drake, and I have to be ready for my time,” Gallagher said. “It was my first and the defense played really well in front of me.”
Gallagher had three big saves down the stretch as the Bulldogs pulled out the win. Drake took on Fordham yesterday at Cownie Soccer Complex. The Bulldogs hit the road to face Wisconsin on Friday.
