DES MOINES, Iowa - Alyssa Brand scored in the 84^th minute to break a 1-1 tie and send Drake University past the Milwaukee women's soccer team Sunday afternoon at Crownie Stadium.
 
The Panthers (3-2-1) scored first but could not keep the Bulldogs (4-0-1) from equalizing before halftime. The 1-1 contest seemed destined for overtime after both teams put together quality chances that came close, but Brand's goal decided it.
 
The loss is the first for Milwaukee in over a calendar year on the road, falling for the first time in nine games away from Engelmann Stadium (7-0-1 coming in). Drake, ranked No. 10 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional this week, is the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and has now lost just once in its past 10 games dating back to last season (6-1-3).
 
Maria Stephans opened the scoring in the 29^th minute, netting her third goal of the season, this time of the unassisted variety to the bottom corner of the goal at 28:53. Her tally came against a very stingy defense and was actually the first goal allowed by Drake this season.
 
The Bulldogs made it a new game less than 10 minutes later, finding the back of the net at the 37:21 mark to make it 1-1 following a nice finish after a combination of passes into the box.
 
Mallory Geurts made six saves in her 86-plus minutes on the day, including a brilliant stop on a direct free kick that kept it 1-1 in the middle of the second period.
 
For the game, UWM was minimally outshot at 9-to-7, with Drake earning six of the 10 corner kick attempts in the game. Stephans had a team-high three of the seven shots.
 
The squad returns to town for its annual matchup with Marquette Friday. The city rivalry gets underway at 7 p.m. from Valley Fields.