DePaul University Athletics
Two Late Goals a Road Trip Downer for DePaul
9/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Just when it seemed like DePaul might be coming home with an improbable BIG EAST road sweep, the Blue Demons let one get away.
Giving up two late goals in less than 12 minutes, DePaul fell victim to West Virginia 2-1 in overtime on Sunday.
Coming off a big road victory Friday night over Pittsburgh, DePaul (5-4-0, 2-2-0 in the BIG EAST) maintained its momentum when Alex Mangan opened the scoring in the 20th minute.
Mangan, whose specialty is header goals, took a nice crossing pass from Andre Gutierrez in the box and re-directed it into the net near the post for his third goal of the season.
"Andre played a nice ball, and Mangan hit it well with his head," said DePaul coach Craig Blazer. "That got us off to a nice start."
A defense headed by Patrick Hopkins, Nathan Feltz, Erich Reichmann and John Jandl did a commendable job keeping goalkeeper Joe Ferrari out of harm's way for nearly 62 minutes.
Ferrari, who had recorded the Blue Demons' first shutout on Friday (1-0 over the Panthers) appeared headed for a second-straight zero when West Virginia (4-2-2, 3-1-0) put a damper on DePaul's road show.
At the 82:30 mark, Travis Pittman used his head to score off a corner kick by Abel Sebele.
"West Virginia is a difficult place to play," Blazer said.
With the partisans revved up from the late reprieve, the Mountaineers went on the attack in overtime. At the 94:07 juncture, Pttman and Sebele struck again.
This time, Pittman and Sebele collaborated to set up Gift Maworere with a crossing pass that Maworere slowed with his chest and before firing into the net.
"They scored in the run of play and were able to chip one over our back line," Blazer said. "Their forward got a clean look from 12 yards out. He did a nice job of finishing it.
"I thought our guys did a good job overall. We've got to find a way to do a little bit more at the end. Credit West Virginia for doing what they needed to get back into the game."
Blazer was satisfied with the weekend split.
"A 1-1 split on the road in the BIG EAST is very good," Blazer said. "We're coming home with three points and a 5-4 record overall. We keep on improving and moving forward."
NOTES: Gutierrez picked up his first point of the season with the assist on Mangan's goal... DePaul was outshot 16-9, including 12-3 in the second half... Mangan's goal leaves him fourth on the team with six points... Steffen Vroom (nine points) leads the Blue Demons followed by Antonio Aguilar with eight and Mark Plotkin with seven... the Blue Demons have scored 16 goals to 13 for the opposition and have outpointed opponents 45-36.