Kansas City
Drake
Kangaroos Open First, Second Half With Goals But Draw 2-2 At Drake
10/17/2007 10:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Des Moines, Iowa - Goals in the opening 15 minutes of both the first and second half from UMKC would be answered by a pair of Drake goals in the second half, sending the Kangaroos into overtime for the second time in as many matches. Neither team could tally in the extra frames as the game ended 2-2.
In the third minute, the Kangaroos had a nice chance, as Brian Harris outpaced his defender to collect a long ball, playing a cross from the byline to John Bayron Sosa with a nice look at goal, but the Drake defender slid from behind to knock the ball out of danger.
Sosa would have no trouble with the defense in the ninth minute, as he dribbled down the left side of the field with just Philip Brauer to beat. The freshman coolly rounded the Drake goalkeeper and slotted the ball into the net.
Drake nearly equalized in the 18th minute, as the UMKC backline couldn't quite clear the ball following a corner kick, but Ken Cooper was able to read Garrett Webb's shot through a mass of bodies and make the save diving to his left.
UMKC nearly found themselves up by two in the 31st minute, as Sosa found his cross turned into a shot via a deflection off the Drake defender, but the effort rolled just to the right of the post.
The teams were level in shots on goal for the first half, but the hosts recorded five total efforts to just two for UMKC. The foul count was close, with UMKC whistled for seven infractions to Drake's six.
The Kangaroos would double their lead in the 56th minute as Harris ran onto a hopeful through ball from Josh White. Brauer came out to challenge Harris, but the Kangaroo junior coolly slotted the ball below the keeper and into the left corner of the net. Both players were shaken up on the collision but would be able to continue.
Drake was able to pull one back in the 70th minute, after a great save from Cooper. UMKC was whistled for a foul on the right wing and on the resulting free kick, Calvin Clark found himself at the left corner of the six-yard box. He blasted an effort into the chest of Cooper, but collected the rebound and touched it to Keith Gorczyca who found his brother Luke on the back post through a group of players for a tap-in.
The Bulldogs equalized in the 79th minute, with Webb finding Matt Kuhn off the right corner of the penalty area. The freshman uncorked a solid shot to the near post that snuck just under the arm of the diving Cooper.
Sosa nearly reclaimed the lead for the Kangaroos in the 84th minute, but his rocket of a shot caromed off the bottom of the crossbar and spun out for a Drake throw.
The Kangaroos pressed the issue to open the first overtime but were a bit too eager and were whistled offside four times.
UMKC had its best effort of the second overtime period in the 107th minute, but Bryan Perez put his shot just wide.
With the draw, UMKC moves to 5-5-3 on the year. Cooper was credited with three saves on the evening. The Blue-and-Gold recorded seven shots on the evening to 14 for Drake.
The Kangaroos have a break this weekend, with a bye in Summit League action, returning to the pitch next Wednesday for a game against Rockhurst. Kickoff for the match is set for 7 p.m.
