DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Open Regular Season in Peoria
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
Weekly Release
CHICAGO - The DePaul men’s soccer team starts the 2005 season as one of four teams at the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic in Peoria. Host Bradley welcomes Butler, DePaul and Western Illinois to the ninth annual home tournament. The Blue Demons take on the Braves in game two on Friday night before playing Western Illinois at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Looking at the Blue Demons: DePaul returns 17 players and eight starters... 15 of the student-athletes are either sophomores or freshmen... John Partyka is the top returning scorer with eight points on three goals and two assists in 2004... the Blue Demons played in eight overtime matches in 2004 and 12 games were decided by one goals... Luke Rojo returns after missing last season with an injury... he is tied for 13th all-time with 34 points on 13 goals and 10 assists... head coach Craig Blazer is in his fifth season at DePaul.
Outstanding in the Classroom: Prior to the start of the season the Blue Demons were awarded the Conference USA Sport Academic Award for having the highest team GPA during the 2004-05 academic year. It marks the second time in the last three years that the men’s soccer team earned the honor. The Blue Demons totaled a 3.13 team GPA last year and earned the honor following the 2002 season with a GPA of 3.14.
Leaving a Mark: To close out DePaul’s run in Conference USA, John Kornfeld accomplished something just one player in a Blue Demon uniform managed. Kornfeld was named to the league’s All-Freshman team and picked up third team All-CUSA honors last year. A DePaul freshman was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team on seven occasions, including three times in the last five seasons, but only Kevin Bateman in 1995, was also named to one of the league’s three All-Conference teams. Both Kornfeld and Bateman picked up third team honors in addition to the All-Freshman recognition.
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 totaled 34 points on 12 goals and 10 assists. He needs 11 points to pass 10th-ranked Dusan Colakovic and tie Shane Hudson for ninth all-time. On the goals chart, Rojo needs 10 goals to move into a tie for sixth and four more assists to tie the fifth spot all-time. The senior has played in 54 career matches.
Noting Bradley: The Braves return 20 letterwinners and 10 starters from last season’s 10-6-3 squad. Bradley was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll behind favorite Creighton. They knocked of No. 17 Northwestern, 3-1, in an exhibition match on Aug. 23. Chris Brown is the top returning scorer with 10 points on four goals and two assists in 2004. Head coach Jim DeRose is starting his 10th season at Bradley. The Series: Bradley leads the series, 3-1-2, with Friday being the first meeting since 1993... in the last meeting, the two teams played to a 2-2 tie at Wish Field on Oct. 12, 1993.
Checking Out Western Illinois: The Leathernecks open the season with Butler in the first game of the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic on Friday evening. Western Illinois returns 19 letterwinners and seven starters from a 2004 team that posted an 11-10 record and won the Mid-Continent tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Leathernecks were picked in a tie for second with Oakland in the preseason Mid-Con poll behind favorite Oral Roberts. In three preseason exhibition matches, the Leathernecks earned three victories. They topped Graceland (2-1), Illinois-Springfield (2-0) and Quincy (3-0).
Warm-Ups: DePaul posted a 2-1 record in their three exhibition matches. The Blue Demons knocked off Northern Illinois and Dominican before falling to Marquette. On Aug. 20, Alec Kulinczenko and Jeff DeGroot brought the Blue Demon from behind in a 2-1 victory over the Huskies in DeKalb. DePaul topped Dominican, 2-0, on Aug. 25 with first-half goals by Luke Rojo and John Partyka. The exhibition season wrapped up with a 3-0 loss to Marquette last Saturday at Wish Field.
Preseason Picks: The Blue Demons were picked to finish eighth in the Red Division of the BIG EAST Preseason Poll. The BIG EAST Conference features a pair of eight-team divisions with the top 12 overall teams advancing to the league tournament. St. John’s was chosen as the favorite to win the Red Division while Connecticut earned the preseason nod from the coaches for the eight-team Blue Division
Looking Forward: DePaul returns to Chicago next weekend for the first of four straight home matches. The Blue Demons host St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday, Sept. 9 and Drake two days later. The following weekend has DePaul opening BIG EAST play with Georgetown and Seton Hall venturing to Wish Field. The Hoyas clash with DePaul on Friday, Sept. 16 to start Alumni Weekend. Sunday afternoon has a soccer doubleheader to highlight the Wish Field rededication with the men taking on Seton Hall at 12:30 p.m. followed by the DePaul women taking on Central Michigan.