It was even for the majority of the game, but the Milwaukee women’s soccer team fell to Drake University Sunday afternoon in Des Moines.
The scoring began when Maria Stephans took matters into her own hands for the Panthers, placing an unassisted shot into the bottom corner of the goal in the 29th minute. It was the first goal allowed by the Drake defense all season and Stephans’ third of the year.
However, it did not take long for the Bulldogs to reply. Less than 10 minutes later, they found the net after a combination of skillful passes that weaved through the Milwaukee defense and into the box.
The score would remain all tied up until the 84th minute, when Alyssa Brand netted a go-ahead goal for Drake, breaking the 1-1 tie and defeating the Panthers.
Milwaukee goalkeeper Mallory Geurts tallied six saves on the day, including a sensational stop on a direct free kick that kept things knotted up at 1-1 in the second half.
For the game, the Panthers were outshot at a small margin of 9-to-7. Drake won the corner kick total, 6-to-4.
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 is the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and has now lost just once in its past 10 games.
The Panthers return to town this Friday for its annual matchup against Marquette. The rivalry gets underway at 7 p.m. from Valley Fields.