During the second semifinals round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for women’s soccer on Nov. 6, the Drake University Bulldogs took a 0-1 loss against the Illinois State University Redbirds.
The game came after Drake’s victory in the regular season Missouri Valley Conference on Oct. 30. There, the Bulldogs won 1-0 against the Southern Illinois University Salukis and jumped into the semifinals round, hosted by Drake in Mediacom Stadium.
The Bulldogs scored a goal within the first minute of the game, but it was redacted from the score due to offside.
From there, both teams applied pressure to the other’s defenses with several ball transitions happening almost constantly. Throughout the game Drake made 10 shots, six saves and four corner kicks, outdoing ISU in saves.
The Bulldogs also endured 13 fouls and received two yellow cards for forward Layla Kelbel and the bench.
Players such as forward Eve Blakey, midfielder Angela Gutierrez, and defenders Madelyn Smith and Zoey Mahoney made notable efforts to contest the Redbirds. Mahoney threw the ball in for Drake with six flip throws to leverage her teammates.
The Redbirds’ point was scored by senior Abby Hall in the second half during a penalty kick. Less than six minutes remained in the game after the goal, and while the Bulldogs attempted to close the gap and score, it didn’t come.
Head coach for Drake women’s soccer, Lindsey Horner, acknowledged the factors behind the game’s outcome, from setup and opponent strengths to referee calls.
“Even in the first half… we were going to be defending a little more than we wanted to,” Horner said. “Illinois State is so defensive in nature and how we got set up. The shots were going to be hard to come by, and we just didn’t make all our chances today.”
Horner thought the game’s outcome would be similar to the Bulldog’s last, and would come down to a restart via flip throw, corner kick or penalty.
“[I was] very bummed that it comes to a referee’s call to be a deciding factor in an elimination game,” Horner said. “I am proud of how our players worked and represented us today, and really bummed it didn’t go our way.”
The soccer year may now be over, but the Drake women’s soccer team still had a season underlined by success and hard work. Their record remains with a winning majority of 9-6-4, excluding the most recent game.
“Overall, I think when [the players are] finished being sad about the game, they’ll reflect on their careers and realize how much they’ve done for our program,” Horner said.
Illinois State University will advance to the championship round and face University of Illinois Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.
