DePaul University Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens 2004 Season
8/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO – Head coach Craig Blazer and the men’s soccer team begin the 2004 campaign on Wednesday afternoon against Loyola-Chicago. The Blue Demons Ramblers clash at 4 p.m. at Wish Field in Lincoln Park. It is the regular-season opener for both teams.
Looking at the Blue Demons: DePaul returns 18 players and welcomes nine newcomers to the 2004 roster... of those 18 returners, six are seniors, six are juniors and there are six sophomores... offensively, the Blue Demons return the top five scorers from a year ago... in the last two seasons, the club has combined for the most wins (16) since the 1994 and 95 teams combined for 19 victories... the club has posted 11 wins in their last 15 matches at Wish Field... head coach Craig Blazer is in his fourth season in Lincoln Park.
Looking at the Ramblers: A year ago, Loyola held a 7-9-2 record... Bill Metzger is the top returning scorer with 21 points on nine goals and three assists... head coach Ray O’Connell is in his 24th season as head coach… a year ago, the Ramblers knocked off the Blue Demons, 2-0, at Loyola.
Preseason Picks: The Blue Demons were picked eighth in the annual Conference USA preseason poll. Defending champion Saint Louis was picked as the preseason favorite while Will John of Saint Louis and UAB’s Leandro de Oliviera were picked as preseason co-Players of the Year.
2004 C-USA Preseason Poll
1. Saint Louis
2. UAB
3. USF
4. Charlotte
5. Cincinnati
6. Marquette
7. Louisville
8. DePaul
9. Memphis
10. East Carolina
What’s Ahead: The Blue Demons continue the home schedule with a Sunday match against Valparaiso and the C-USA opener against USF next Wednesday. Valparaiso comes to Chicago for a 4 p.m. match on Sunday afternoon while the USF Bulls open league action at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
The club follows the three-game homestand with three local road games. DePaul plays UC Irvine and Northwestern at the Lakeside Classic in Evanston, Sept. 10 and 12 before playing at UIC on Sept. 15.
