An early first-half goal doomed Drake last Friday, as Missouri State edged the Bulldogs 1-0 in Springfield, Mo.

The Bears’ Bethany Smith found the back of the net in the 14th minute. Junior Laura Moklestad nearly knotted things up in the 86th minute. Her shot ricocheted off a Missouri State defender, which was the only obstacle that got in the way of the goal.

Drake fell to 3-6-4 on the season and 1-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State moved to 9-3-1 and 3-0 in the MVC.

“To go down a goal on a miscommunication error was somewhat deflating,” head coach Lindsey Horner said in a Drake athletics press release. “Missouri State is difficult to break down and tough to play at their place. Their keeper is the real deal and cleaned up a lot of our service in their box.”

The Bears outshot Drake 17-12. The Bulldogs trailed 7-6 in shots after the first half. Moklestad and sophomore Paige Dusek led Drake with three shots apiece.

“We had some great moments in the second half, but we had too many moments throughout the game where we were inconsistent,” Horner said.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kalena Litch had another solid performance, collecting a game-high seven saves.

“This season we’ve relied on a lot of players, whether it’s scoring goals, play-making or setting the defensive tone,” Horner said. “We can go on the road and get a result with one or two players not playing near their potential for 90 minutes, but not a handful. With that said, we caused them problems and kept attacking. With about three minutes left we had the keeper beat, and they had a team save.”

Drake took on Cal State Bakersfield yesterday at Cownie Soccer Complex for Senior Day. Results from that game will be available in the next edition of The Times-Delphic.

Seniors being honored include Lauren Berner, Angela Chigazola, Melanie Fielder, Danielle Figliola, Lindsey Johnston and Amanda Wallace.

The Bulldogs’ next contest is at Texas A&M this Friday. Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m.