'Roos Look to Match School Record with Drake Heading to Town
10/8/2012 4:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer
at Kansas City Kangaroos (5-4-2, 3-0 SL)
Tuesday, October 9 - 7:00 pm
Kansas City, Mo. * Durwood Soccer Stadium
Live Stats/Webcast: UMKCKangaroos.com (T.J. Jackson, play-by-play)
The Game:
The 'Roos look to continue their win streak when Drake comes to town on Tuesday night. UMKC will be aiming to make it seven straight matches being unbeaten, which would match the school record, set in 2003. Drake comes in with an unbeaten streak in its last three games, including a 0-0 tie against No. 12 Creighton.
The Coaches
In his 15th season at UMKC, Rick Benben is the winningest coach in school history, posting a 110-131-29 record. Under his guidance, UMKC has captured four Summit League regular season titles and has made three appearances in the NCAA College Cup with the most recent appearance coming in 2008. Benben, the fourth head coach in the Division I era, was inducted into the UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame this past year.
Sean Holmes is in his 15th season at Drake. He has an overall record of 203-151-32 in his career, and is 125-125-30 at DU. He led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2009, and made a run to the Elite Eight in 2009 with a final national ranking of No. 8.
The Series
It will be the 13th consecutive season the 'Roos have faced Drake, and the 25th meeting in the history of the two programs (DU leads 16-6-2). Last season the Bulldogs took a 2-1 overtime decision in Des Moines.
The 'Roos have won two straight at home in the series and are 4-2-1 in KC during the tenure of Benben.
Benben has a 5-8-2 overall mark against DU, while Holmes is 8-5-2 vs. UMKC.
Scouting the Competition
The Drake Bulldogs are 3-7-3 overall and 1-0-1 in Missouri Valley play, defeating Central Arkansas and tying Creighton. The Bulldogs are also 2-0-1 in their last three.
The Bulldogs have only scored 0.85 goals per game this season, and have allowed 1.77 per contest. The leading scorer is Michael Thaden with four goals and 28 shots, with two of those coming via penalty kick. Defensively goalkeeper Rich Gallagher has a 1.63 goals against average with 69 saves and two shutouts. The Bulldogs have allowed only once goal in their last three games however.
A Win vs Drake Means...
- Kansas City would have snapped a two-game losing skid to the Bulldogs.
- The 'Roos would have three consecutive home wins over the Bulldogs, last losing at home in 2005.
- UMKC would have extended its unbeaten streak to seven games, tying the school record, set in 2003.
- Kansas City would have won five consecutive games for the first time since 2001, one short of the 1999 school record.
Summit League Starts
The 'Roos have been good to start Summit League play during the Benben era, with a streak of six straight years being unbeaten (10-3-1 under Benben) in openers.
They are now 3-0 for the third time under Benben, and the first since 2003, joining only the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Tournament teams that have accomplished that during this coaching era.
The longest winning streak to start conference play was in 1997 at five games.
Ahead of the Pace
Kansas City has already won five games this year, matching last season's total for the whole season. Also the 'Roos have tallied one more Summit League win than all of last year (2).
It is also the first time UMKC has been above .500 since the end of the 2010 season.
Up Next
The 'Roos hit the road for a huge first-place match-up with Oakland on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. ET.
It will be the 20th meeting between the two schools with an 11-4-4 series record in favor of the Grizzlies. Last season the 'Roos took a 1-0 decision at home. The 'Roos are 2-0-1 in the last three meetings overall.
Durwood W's
Since Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field opened in 2009, the 'Roos have been excellent there, posting a 19-8 mark (.704).
Last season UMKC went 3-4 at home, but posted an 8-1 mark in 2010, and went 4-2 in 2009. The 'Roos are 4-1 this year.
