Courtesy: Adam Winkelmann Junior Nathan Bruinsma wins a header with a defender in first-round College Cup action, Thursday, Nov. 19.

DES MOINES, Iowa  -  The Western Illinois men’s soccer team fell to No. 24 Drake, 2-1, in first-round play of the NCAA College Cup in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Nov. 19.

The Fighting Leathernecks (8-10-2, 3-2-1 Summit League) saw its season end as they were unable to recover from two early goals by the Drake Bulldogs (14-6-2).

Drake opened the scoring up in the fourth minute, when Brian Wurst sent a header into the box which skipped through to Kevin Shrout, who sent the ball into the lower right side of the goal.

“Drake had a lot of depth. Their first 11 and guys off the bench played good minutes, so you can’t key on anyone,” Western Illinois head coach Eric Johnson said. “They did a good job against our three in the middle and we’re pretty good. So the key to Drake is their depth.”

The Bulldogs followed with another goal in the eighth minute, as Garrett Webb headed a ball into the Western goal off of service in the box from Nick Foster.

“I wish we came out stronger in the first 10 minutes,” Johnson said. “Drake manhandled us and we were shell-shocked and just didn’t do a great job. If we could take that 10 back and do it over, we could’ve had that game.”

Following the Bulldogs initial two goals in the game, the Leathernecks were able to bounce back and gather some chances of their own.

Momentum shifted to Western’s favor in the 78th minute, when they were awarded a penalty kick on a foul in the Bulldog box. Freshman Husref Jupic went on to deposit the kick into the lower left corner of the goal, tightening the score to 2-1 with his second goal of the year.

Junior Kevin Hinds provided a spark off the bench, tying for most shots on the squad with three, one being on goal. Jupic turned in a solid performance out of the midfield, also getting off three shots.

The Leathernecks were outshot 16 to 18, with Western tallying four on goal to Drake’s six. Western also took two corners to the Bulldogs seven.

The game ends the 2009 campaign for the Leatherneck men’s soccer team. It also eliminates the squad from the NCAA College Cup, the fourth appearance under coach Johnson.

“Winning the league tournament and taking second overall in the regular season, we went from a pretty average team to a difficult team to beat, so I thought that was key to this group,” Johnson said. “We will be hungry this spring and will get better.”

“When you’re still playing and a lot of teams are sitting at home wishing they were playing, it’s (the season) always a success.”