DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Travels South for C-USA Play
9/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO – Halfway through their season-opening nine-match road trip, the DePaul men’s soccer team begins Conference USA action in the state of North Carolina. The Blue Demons take on the East Carolina Pirates on Friday afternoon and challenge the Charlotte 49ers on Sunday. DePaul enters the weekend at 2-2-1 while the Pirates are 1-4-0 and the 49ers stand at 4-1-0.
Looking at the Blue Demons
DePaul has won back-to-back matches after starting the season 0-2-1… offensively, three players have found the net… Luke Rojo leads the squad with three goals while Edwin Arreola and Adam Hermsen have scored once… the Blue Demons have been outscored, 11-6, through five matches… goalkeeper Mike Timlin registered his first collegiate shutout in the 1-0 win at Northern Illinois… Rojo and Jonathan Foley were named to the All-Tournament team at the Coca-Cola Panther Invitational… Rojo earned Conference USA All-Freshman team honors last season... Foley and Bob Kruse will serve as team captains in 2002... after opening the season with nine straight road matches, the Blue Demons play seven of the remaining 10 regular-season matches at Wish Field... head coach Craig Blazer is in his first season without the "Interim" tag... he was named interim coach a day before the first exhibition game last season after Tom Secco resigned.
Looking at the Weekend Opponents
East Carolina Pirates – The Pirates stand at 1-4-0 overall and 0-2-0 in C-USA play… they have dropped league matches to South Florida (4-0) and Charlotte (1-0)… they have also lost to Ohio State (2-0) and Penn State (4-2)... the lone victory came on Sept. 11 against Elon (5-2)… seven different players have scored one goal for ECU… head coach Devin O’Neill is in his fourth season... East Carolina is located in Greenville.
Charlotte 49ers – The 49ers enter the weekend at 4-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in C-USA play… they knocked off Winthrop, 5-4, on Wed. night… Charlotte has also posted victories over Rhode Island (2-1), Birmingham Southern (4-0) and East Carolina (1-0)… their lone defeat came in the first match of the season at Radford (1-0)… Tim Flavin leads the club with five goals… head coach John Tart is in his eighth season. The series: Sunday marks the fourth meeting between the Blue Demons and Golden Eagles... Southern Miss won two of the meetings while the two squads tied once.
Last Time Out - DePaul 1, Northern Illinois 0 (OT)
For the first time in 16 tries, the DePaul men's soccer team defeated Northern Illinois, 1-0, in overtime last Sunday. The Huskies entered the match leading the all-time series, 13-0-2. Luke Rojo ended the streak with a golden goal in the 98th minute.
After the Demons and Huskies battled to a scoreless tie through two periods, Tim Blake found Rojo on the left side. Rojo took the pass and headed it past Northern Illinois keeper Risah Pala for the game-winner at 97:43.
In the match, DePaul tallied 26 shots while Northern Illinois got off 21. DePaul keeper Mike Timlin earned the first shutout of his collegiate career while making seven saves.
Nothing But the Best
A quick look at the 2002 schedule shows that the Blue Demons have their work cut out for them. Consider this, five opponents (No. 7 Washington, No. 10 UAB, No. 11 Saint Louis, No. 15 Portland, No. 17 UW-Milwaukee) were ranked in the preseason top 25 by Soccer America. Of those five, the Blue Demons opened their season at three of those ranked squads. DePaul doesn't play a home match until Oct. 5 against Memphis, a span of nine consecutive games.
Home-Opening Weekend Plans Announced
DePaul men's soccer Craig Blazer announced plans for activities surrounding DePaul's home-opener against Memphis on Oct. 5. There will be activities for Alumni and Parents during the day.
The Alumni game is set to start at 10:30 a.m. Alumni interested in playing need to RSVP to Blazer and register on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. Following the game there will be a lunch for the alumni and parents at noon. All are invited to stay for the DePaul match against Memphis at 2 p.m.
For more information and to RSVP, contact head coach Craig Blazer at (773) 325-7231. All parents and alumni need to RSVP with Blazer prior to Oct. 5.
Up Next
The Blue Demons take on local foe Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 25. Kickoff at Flames Field is scheduled for 4 p.m. The last of their nine consecutive matches away from Wish Field will be Sept. 29 at Drake.
The home-opening weekend will be Oct. 5 when the Blue Demons take on the Memphis Tigers at Wish Field.