DePaul University Athletics
Men's Soccer Plays at Villanova
10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
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CHICAGO - The DePaul men’s soccer team travels to Villanova in a rescheduled match on Monday afternoon. The stakes are high as a win for the Blue Demons puts them in the BIG EAST Tournament. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EST. Monday's game was postponed on Oct. 8 due to poor field conditions after rain in the Philadelphia area.
On the Line: With DePaul's win over Louisville on Saturday followed by a Villanova victory against Syracuse, a win on Monday makes DePaul the No. 6 seed in Red Division. The Blue Demons enter the match with seven points behind the 10 points for the Orange. A win on Monday gives the Blue Demons three points and a tie with Syracuse. DePaul holds the tiebreaker with the Orange after defeating them, 1-0, on Oct. 1 at Wish Field.
Should the Blue Demons qualify for the league tournament, they will travel to the No. 3 seed in the Blue Division, West Virginia or Notre Dame, for a first-round match on Nov. 2 or 3. DePaul lost at West Virginia, 2-0, on Sept. 25 and did not play Notre Dame during the regular season.
Looking at the Blue Demons: Saturday's win over Louisville ended a season-high four-match losing streak... DePaul has played in seven matches decided by one goal... they are 3-4 in those games... in 2004, 12 matches were decided by a single goal with a 2-10 record... the Blue Demons have played four overtimes matches and hold a 0-2-2 record in those matches... the 1-0 win over Syracuse snapped a four-match streak without a victory for the Blue Demons... the victory over the Orange was also the first DePaul in BIG EAST play... Adam Hermsen leads the team with five goals… Jeff DeGroot, Anthony Minniti and Luke Rojo have three goals apiece... the back-to-back shutouts on the road at Pittsburgh and West Virginia marked the first time this season that the team has been blanked in two straight matches... the 4-3 overtime loss to then-No. 21 Georgetown on Sept. 16 snapped a three-match unbeaten streak... it was the longest since a pair of three-game runs without a lost in 2003... three goals against the Hoyas were the most in a match for the Blue Demons since a 3-1 win against UW-Green Bay on Sept. 8, 2002... the five combined goals in the two matches against Georgetown and Seton Hall are the highest two-game total in the Craig Blazer era... it marks the most in back-to-back matches since seven goals were scored at Northwestern (W, 3-1) and at Memphis (W, 4-3) on Oct. 13 and 17, 1999... the program’s last four-match unbeaten streak occurred with four wins in 1995... the longest unbeaten streak in school history was in 1994 with eight straight games... the five players that have scored a goal this season did not score in 2004... 15 of the student-athletes are either sophomores or freshmen... John Partyka and Brian Visser were named to the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic All-Tournament team... head coach Craig Blazer is in his fifth season at DePaul.
Noting Villanova: The Wildcats stand at 6-7-3 overall and 5-4-1 in BIG EAST action. The topped Syracuse, 1-0, on Saturday evening. A win or tie against the Blue Demons gives Villanova the No. 4 seed in the Red Division. Villanova has scored 14 goals this season while allowing their opponents to find the net on 19 occasions. Charlie Rowan leads the team with 10 points on five goals. Goalkeepers Jason Friel and John Ward have combined for a 1.14 goals against average with Friel playing 1,200 of the 1,500 total minutes in goal. Head coach Larry Sullivan is in his 15th season as head coach of the Wildcats.
Record Book Watch: DePaul senior Luke Rojo is closing in on the all-time top 10 scoring list. Rojo, who missed last season with an injury, has scored three goals this season for 42 career points on 15 goals and 12 assists. He is ranked 11th all-time and needs three points to pass 10th-ranked Dusan Colakovic and tie Shane Hudson for ninth all-time. On the goals chart, Rojo needs seven goals to move into a tie for sixth and two more assists to tie the fifth spot all-time. The senior has played in 69 career matches. With his fifth goal of the season at Cincinnati on Oct. 26, senior Adam Hermsen moved into 24th place on the all-time scoring list. needs just three points to move into the top 25 in school history. Through 63 career matches, he has 22 points on eight goals and six assists.