Women’s Soccer Tops Bulldogs in MVC Opener

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Missouri State women’s soccer team defeated Drake, 3-1, on the road in the opening match of Missouri Valley Conference play on Thursday.
 
MoState (3-4-2, 1-0-0) opened scoring early when Lillie Rassmussen was able to head the ball past Drake’s Addie Ford in the fifth minute with an assist from Jane Hansen. It was Rassmussen’s first collegiate goal.
 
Drake responded with a goal of its own less than six minutes later to tie things up before halftime. Maia Bentley was able to sneak one past Camielle Day to even the score in the 12^th minute.
 
In the second half, the Bears were able to run away in scoring. Grace O’Keefe ricocheted the ball off the right post and into Ford’s leg to secure the game-winning goal with an assist from Reilly Heman in the 63^rd minute.
 
Heman scored a goal of her own as the clock was winding down when she ran the ball down the field with less than two minutes to go in the match. The Springfield native was neck and neck with Drake midfielder Lily Overstreet as they went down the pitch. Heman was able to rocket the ball past Ford for her third goal of the season.
 
The Bulldogs (1-5-4, 0-1) did outshoot the Bears 12-9, but MoState had more shots on-goal with seven on-target to Drake’s four.
 
Heman and Julia Kristensen led the Bears in shooting with two shots each. Jane Hansen, Maggie O’Keefe and Gabbi Schlapper also took a shot.
 
Goalkeeper Camielle Day made three saves against the Bulldogs to improve to 37 total saves this season. Day played the full 90 minutes and has now recorded over 4,000 minutes spent between the posts for the Bears.
 
“Exactly what I would expect from a conference battle – high energy and lots of emotion,” head coach Kirk Nelson said. “We came out quick to set the tone early and even with the equalizer against us, we sustained that momentum for the entire 90. Happy getting three points on the road and time to focus on Sunday.”
 
The Bears will continue their trip around the state of Iowa with a Sunday conference match at UNI at noon.