The Drake men’s soccer team can earn a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament which will be held in Des Moines beginning Friday. The Bulldogs open against Creighton on Friday afternoon and if they don’t win the tournament they will have to wait to see if they earn an at-large spot.

Drake coach Sean Holmes says last year they were just happy to get in, and this year they know with a tournament win they could get a home game or two.

Holmes says they are fortunate to start six or seven seniors every game which gives them experience at crunch time. Evansville and Missouri State meet in the other opening round contest. The winners meet on Sunday for the Valley title.

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