The members of the Drake University women’s soccer team had one goal in mind: to become champions. That is exactly what they accomplished by the end of Oct. 30, earning the title of regular season Missouri Valley Conference champions.
It took less than a pump-up video to motivate Drake, as energy was present within Mediacom Stadium from the first moment on — with good reason, too. The game against the Southern Illinois University Salukis marked the last of the regular conference season, ending in a 1-0 Drake victory. The Bulldogs outshot the Salukis by a margin of 15-12 and won the game’s corner kick battle 6-3.
With championships in mind, sophomore Claire Emmerich scored the goal for Drake with the assistance of Eve Blakey and Angela Gutierrez.
In three words, defender Alli Stickelmaier described the girl’s soccer season so far with “happy, fun and hardwork.” A first-year member of the team, Stickelmaier recognized the importance of the soccer team’s success and the dedication of several players.
“Completing this achievement in the end of becoming conference champs, regular season, and knowing that we have a chance of winning at the end [made our hard work worth it],” Stickelmaier said.
“Shoutout Madelyn Smith, worked hard the whole game. Izzy Snowden and Alanna Pennington, our centerbacks, [and] Addie Ford, our goalie,” Stickelmaier said.
The women’s soccer team had their start in August with pre-season games. Their overall record thus far is 9-5-4, with a conference record of 6-2-1.
“For some of [the players] it’s been a few years at Drake of just constantly putting ourselves in a position to compete for championships,” said head coach Lindsey Horner.
Horner has been with Drake Athletics for 23 years and is currently in her 18th year as head coach. She saw the team through their August pre-season matches and in challenges against “some harder teams.”
“Even though we didn’t win some of those games, we learned a lot about ourselves,” Horner said.
This development was not only due to challenging other teams, but by the Bulldogs challenging each other, too.
“We have a big roster this year, and we’re deep, and have good players that don’t always see the field,” Horner said, “but they helped us every day in practice to just train at an incredibly tense level, so yeah, I just thought we were prepared for today.”
As the conference tournament approaches and the regular season ends, Horner wants players to reset and keep their goals in mind while staying grateful to those who helped them most.
“[I feel] thrilled and excited, and incredibly proud of the players. And I just think they’re deserving, and it’s exciting to see them achieve their goals,” Horner said.
The night was also the soccer team’s opportunity to recognize the staff and faculty who impacted them. Walking side-by-side onto the field with the players was a moment for these staff to be recognized for their importance beyond the classroom or practice field. That same appreciation was shared between teammates as they looked ahead to the next challenge.
The team’s success marks the second regular season championship Drake has won in the last three seasons.
Quarterfinals for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament start on Sunday, Nov. 2. The Bulldogs will start in the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 6 in Mediacom Stadium at 3 p.m.; Drake will host the winner of the seed three versus seed four match. The game can also be caught live on ESPN+.
