11 | sports
Sept. 28, 2016
SPORTS MEN’S SOCCER
Bulldogs below .500 before start of conference Adam Rogan Managing Editor adam.rogan@drake.edu @adam_rogan
Drake Men’s Soccer fell further below .500 last week with a road loss to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Flames on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs are now 3-5‑0 and have taken losses in their last three matches. With only one more nonconference match before Missouri Valley Conference play gets fully underway, Drake doesn’t have long to right the ship. Smart passing for UIC and mental mistakes — including a handball in the box — by Drake gave the Flames a trio of goals in the 48th, 53rd and 64th minutes. Drake’s backline is still not at full strength, as senior James Grunert remains injured and senior Andre Heine is still serving a suspension from a red card rules violation. The Bulldogs battled back and got onto the scoreboard in the 75th. Senior Mueng Sunday scored his first goal of the
season off of a free kick assist from redshirt-sophomore Paul Ciszewski. The Bulldogs struck again with a little over two minutes left — senior defender Adam Weatherly’s first career goal — but it was too little, too late as the Flames’ lead proved insurmountable. The match ended 3-2. The Bulldogs had their chances. They took 10 shots and put more than half of them on goal, but took awhile to get going. Drake didn’t take a shot until the 52nd minute, whereas the Flames had eight shots in the first half. Drake redshirt-senior goalkeeper Darrin MacLeod still made five saves, but the three goals against were the most he’s given up since the first match of the season on Aug. 26. The Bulldogs faced off with Western Michigan last night after The Times-Delphic went to print in the final nonconference match of the season. They will play MVC opponent Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on the road on Oct. 1 as the Bulldogs look to improve to 1-1 in conference play.
SENIOR MIDFIELDER James Wypych attempts to slide the ball away from a Loyola Rambler. Wypych is tied for the team lead in goals scored for the 2016 season with three. PHOTO BY CASSANDRA BAUER| STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
MEN’S TENNIS
Bulldogs look to grow, Ben Clark sweeps tourney Will Muckian Contributing Writer will.muckian@drake.edu @WMuckian
Drake Men’s Tennis is in for a terrific year of growth. In their first tournament of the fall season, the Bulldogs reeled off an impressive set of wins over varied competition. The most notable of which was sophomore Ben Clark’s Flight 1 championship win. Clark didn’t drop a single set throughout the weekend, despite a nail-biter in the first of Sunday’s sets. “He really kept his composure the whole way through,” Head Coach Davidson Kozlowski said. “He was down, faced a set point, and just showed a lot of maturity.” Maturity would be a big question for any team without a single senior, but Clark seemed confident that he was up to the task. “As you go up in age, as you go through the years, you have to become more of a leader,” Clark said. The expectation for the sophomores is that they’ll carry a lot more of the burden than usual, but Clark seemed ready for that
as well. “It was tough last year, not playing a lot,” Clark said. “But you have to work and the results will come, as they did today.” Clark’s win was far from the only highlight in a tournament that Drake shone in. Freshman Jackson Guilford lost his first match, but rebounded to qualify for the Flight 3 consolation finals after powering through his second and third matches. As the first Drake player from Iowa under Kozlowski’s tenure, he impressed despite some butterflies on the new stage. “I was really nervous at first, but worked it out and played well… It was really nice to have a team to cheer you on the whole time,” Guilford stated. Kozlowski wasn’t short on praise for the Indianola native either, and said, “He’s been tremendous — just his discipline, his mentality, his focus, his commitment to working hard… I expect him to make a real push to make that starting lineup.” The Bulldogs will look to continue building momentum in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the ITA AllAmerican tournament on Oct. 1st. SOPHOMORES Tom Hands and Ben Clark high five each other last weekend. PHOTO BY KATIE KURKA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Coming Up at Drake SEPT. 30
OCT. 1
Volleyball vs. Kansas State 7 p.m.
Volleyball vs. Southern Illinois 7 p.m.
OCT. 2
OCT. 2
Volleyball vs. Wichita State 6 p.m.
Women’s Soccer vs. Kansas State 7 p.m.
Daily Hours Mon-Sat: 9am-9pm
(Downtown open until 2am Fri-Sat)
Sun: 10am-8pm OCT. 8
Volleyball vs. UNI 7 p.m.
OCT. 15
Football vs. University of San Diego 12:30 p.m.
OCT. 11
Men’s Soccer vs. Bradley 7 p.m.
OCT. 22
Men’s Soccer vs. Evansville 7 p.m.
FREE Chips & 22oz Fountain Drink
DO WNTOWN
DES MO INES
200 4 TH St.
2708 Ingersoll Ave.
515.809.1970
515.777.3011
When you purchase a pita at a regular price. Order online: Pitapitusa.com Expires: December 31, 2016
URBANDALE
4212 Merle Hay Rd. 515.331.2412
WEST DES MO INES 440 S. 68 th St. 515.221.2360
ANKENY 1805 SE Delaware Ave. 515.965.6913