October 9, 2005 SYCAMORES FALL AT DRAKE 0-2 DES MOINES, Iowa - The women’s soccer team fell to 0-2 in conference with a loss on the road on Sunday to the Drake Bulldogs. The 2-0 shutout victory for the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference makes the Bulldogs undefeated in conference with a 3-0 record. The Sycamores struggled during the game and were not able to muster a shot in the first half of play. The Bulldogs started quickly and scored two quick goals within the first 15 minutes of the game. Drake’s Kristin Underwood found the back of the net after 9:14 in the first half while her teammate, Andrea Schmitz, added a second goal after 13:06 had ticked off the clock. Indiana State would try to come back, but again were denied in the second half, only logging two shots in the final 45 minutes of play. Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Rudzis returned for the Sycamores this week after missing the previous game with a knee injury to logged 10 saves on the day. The Sycamores were without three key defenders for the game, including Meaghan Gaffney, Regan Smith and Stephanie Anderson. The women know they will have to play extraordinarily well down the stretch to make the playoffs after a slow start. “We know we have dug ourselves into a hole here,” head coach Vernon Croft said. “But our team has responded well to adversity throughout the year and I look for them play tough these last few games.” The women will continue their conference road swing this weekend
when they face Creighton (Oct. 14) and Northern Iowa (Oct. 16).
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