CHICAGO (Oct. 23, 2021) – After a commanding 5-1 win over Evansville this past weekend, the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team (7-3-1, 4-1-1) will travel to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Drake University Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday evening.
This match will be a battle for the second-place spot in the Missouri Valley Conference rankings. Currently, the Ramblers are in the No. 2 spot for the conference, but the Bulldogs are not far behind. If Loyola wins this matchup, they will have a strong seven-point lead over Drake heading into the final two weeks of the season. If the Bulldogs come out on top, the Ramblers will only be ahead by one point in the rankings.
Last Time Out: When these two teams last saw each in other on Sept. 25 in Rogers Park, the Ramblers were the ones who came out with a 2-1 win in overtime.
Fabian Becerra opened up the scoring for both teams as he found the back of the net off passes from Benni Hoffman and
Marc Torrellas.
Loyola kept this 1-0 lead for most of the game until the Bulldogs put a header in during the 82nd minute to take the game to overtime. Six minutes into the first 10 bonus soccer, the Ramblers scored again. This time, it was off a goal from
Lukas Ender, who got the ball from Hoffman and Torrellas.
The Ramblers outshot the Bulldogs 14-8 in this match, while both teams made three saves each.
vs Drake: During their most recent match against Bradley, Drake finished with a 2-1 win. The last win for this team prior to the Bradley game was on Oct. 3 when they hosted Evansville.
As they are over halfway through the regular season, the Bulldogs are undefeated on their home turf in Des Moines as they secured wins against Western Illinois, Omaha, Bradley and Evansville. Drake is in their seventh season under head coach Gareth Smith, who was an assistant for six seasons before taking over the program. Since stepping into this role, Smith has accumulated an overall record of 52-50-11.
Leading the offense for the Bulldogs is senior Juan Louis. He currently has 10 points on the season and is tied for second in the MVC for the most goals scored with five.
Series Stuff: Loyola narrowly controls the history in this matchup with a 7-6-6 record. The last time the Bulldogs and Ramblers faced off against one another was in Chicago as Loyola squeaked out an overtime win.
These two teams put up a fight in their last 10 matches, but the results have either favored Loyola or resulted in a tie. The overall record between these two teams in their last 10 meetings is 5-1-4.
Loyola and Drake are top contenders in the conference on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. On defense, both goalkeepers rank high in the conference. Loyola's
Marcel Kampman leads the conference for goals against average (.871) and shuouts per game (4; .364) while Drake's Jared Brown is at the top of the MVC for saves with 32. On offense,
Billy Hency for the Ramblers and Louis for the Bulldogs are the top two scorers as Hency holds six goals and Louis has five.
Up Next: The Ramblers will have a quick turnaround this week as they prepare for their next MVC match on Wednesday, Oct. 27, as they host Bradley. Kickoff at Loyola Soccer Park will be at 7 p.m.
