Missouri State women lose to Drake

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Missouri State women’s soccer team (8-5-2, 2-1-1) suffered its first conference loss of the season on the road at Drake (9-5-3, 2-3-0) on Sunday afternoon, 2-0.

The Bears outshot the Bulldogs 16 to 12 in the match.  Freshman Tiffany Laughlin, who came off the bench, led Missouri State with three shots taken.  Nine of the Bears starters registered at least one shot.

The Bears earned two corners in the match, but were unable to convert on either of them.  Drake earned three corners in the first half and the Missouri State defense held the Bulldogs without a shot on all three attempts.

Missouri State goalkeeper Jessica Teahan made four saves, all in the first half to keep the game tied at 0-0 at halftime.  But Paige Dusek tallied two second half goals, both on give-and-go plays, to put Drake ahead and the eventual victory.

The home team has now won five of the last six regular season meetings between the teams.  The other result was a 0-0 draw in 2005.

“I thought we played very well in the first half today,” commented head coach Rob Brewer following the match.  “It was two evenly matched teams out there today, but it is always hard to get a victory on the road in this league.”

Despite the loss, the Bears remain in second place in the conference, tied with Illinois State at 2-1-1.  Creighton leads the conference at 4-0-0 and is the Bears next opponent.  Missouri State will host the Bluejays at Plaster Field on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.  MSU will finish out the regular season at home on October 28 at 7:00 p.m. against Evansville.