 The University of Evansville women’s soccer team took an early lead, but eventually fell to Drake, 4-1, on homecoming on Saturday afternoon at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Indiana.
“Anytime we can score first, the girls get excited,” said Aces head coach Krista McKendree. “I thought that would really be an energizer for us to come out and compete for the rest of the game, but that wasn’t the case.”
For the Aces, senior midfielder Montana Portenier led the way with a goal on two shots. Rachel Wanninger led the Bulldogs with a pair of goals on four shots.
Portenier got the scoring started in the 28th minute as junior forward Sara Osinski launched a shot that deflected off the crossbar and Portenier gathered the rebound and found the back of the net.
Just before the half, Drake found its equalizer as Hannah Wilder scored in the box off assists by Olivia Bruce and Abby Stephenson.
In the 52nd minute, the Bulldogs gained their first lead of the match on a goal by Wanninger from 15 yards out off an assist by Rebecca Rodgers. Wanninger added a second goal on the afternoon in the 61st minute, assisted by Alyssa Brand. Drake added a fourth goal in the waning moments of the match as Rodgers was once again involved, assisting Hannah Bormann on a goal in the 89th minute.
The Aces were out-shot by Drake, 18-5, with corner kicks also going in the Bulldogs favor by a narrow 3-2 margin.
Up next, Evansville heads to Terre Haute to take on Indiana State on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. (CT).
