EVANSTON, Ill. – The DePaul men’s soccer team remained snake-bitten as they dropped a 3-2 decision to Lafayette on Friday afternoon in the first game of the Lakefront Classic. The Blue Demons outshot the Leopards, 13-6, but Lafayette goalkeeper Jay Freedman made eight saves.
The Blue Demons jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Kevin Riemer scored his first collegiate goal. The freshman took a pass from Edwin Arreola and found the back of the net at 19:03. However, Lafayette stormed back and in the span of less than two minutes they tied the match and took the lead. Jamie Mullarkey scored at 22:03 to tie the match and was followed by Nick Caiella at 23:43 for the lead.
Bob Kruse had a chance to add another first-half goal for DePaul, but his penalty kick was stopped by Freedman. Lafayette (4-0-1) added a third first-half goal at 37:13 to take a 3-1 advantage at halftime. In the first stanza, the Blue Demons were able to only get three shots off compared to four for the Leopards.
The second half was a different story as DePaul peppered Freedman, forcing him to make six second-half saves. The Blue Demons registered 10 shots in the second half and closed the gap in the 71st minute. Arreola scored off a Luke Rojo assist at 70:57 to bring DePaul within a goal, but the Leopards held off the Blue Demons for the 3-2 final.
In addition to outshooting Lafayette, the Blue Demons took 10 corner kicks while the Leopards didn’t have a single attempt. DePaul goalkeeper Jeff Klitzke finished the match with a single save.
DePaul wraps up the Lakefront Classic on Sunday afternoon against host Northwestern. The match is the third of a tripleheader at the Thomas Sports Complex. The DePaul women start the day with an 11 a.m. match against Northwestern followed by the Lafayette-Eastern Illinois men’s match at 1:30 p.m. and the DePaul-Northwestern game at 4 p.m.
