DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
St. John's
Blue Demons Come Up Short Against St. John's
10/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
Oct. 23, 2010
CHICAGO - In a season where nothing seems to be going their way, DePaul's Blue Demons encountered another tough break on Saturday.
A scramble in front of the DePaul net in the 71st minute resulted in a St. John's goal as the Blue Demons lost 1-0 at Wish Field at Cacciatore Stadium.
The setback further dampened the Blue Demons' chances of qualifying for the BIG EAST Conference Championship tournament.
DePaul (3-9-4, 0-5-2) is seventh in the Red Division with two points, and the top six teams advance to the postseason tournament. Syracuse (three points) had a home match Saturday night against Rutgers, which doesn't have any points.
"It's unfortunate that JM (goalkeeper John Michael Kulnig) wasn't able to get a good handle on the ball," DePaul coach Craig Blazer said about Walter Hines' second goal of the season. "It was a bit of a sloppy play, and we just didn't clear it.
"We lost a little concentration in the box."
The Red Storm's Tadeu Terra fired the ball that deflected off Kulnig. It bounced around and wound up on Hines' foot just three yards from the net.
"We're not doing enough to turn losses into ties and ties into wins," Blazer said. "The first half today was challenging, going into the wind. But we came out of it with a 0-0 score.
"We had hoped that having the wind in the second half would be a factor in our favor."
St. John's (8-5-2, 2-3-2) outshot DePaul 15-4, taking eight shots in the first half and seven in the second. The Red Storm fired five shots on goal to none for the Blue Demons.
"We didn't get many shots off," Blazer said. "We didn't have any corner kicks. I'm not sure why our offense wasn't executing."
DePaul's best chance came early in the second half. After a St. John's foul, Matt Leinauer sent a free kick towards the far post. Leading scorer Alex Mangan timed his header well, but knocked it a little high.
The Blue Demons had to operate shorthanded for the final 11 minutes and 38 seconds when David Leverentz was issued a red card and ejected from the game.
"Physically and psychologically, that was tough," Blazer said. "We need some things to go our way.
"We've got to find some momentum."
Blazer is hoping that will come in the 3 p.m. match Wednesday against Cincinnati at Wish Field, the final home game of the season.
NOTES: Seniors Kevin Briars, Andre Gutierrez, Willy Lara, Charlie Mancuso and Mangan were honored along with their parents in a pre-game, Senior Day ceremony... Briars made his first start since 2007 and joined the other four seniors in pre-game introductions... Ray De Leon had two shots and Mangan and Antonio Aguilar had one apiece... St. John's had a 5-0 edge in corner kicks... DePaul's last win came on Sept. 21, blanking Drake 2-0... the Blue Demons have three ties and six losses since the Drake victory... Mangan leads the team in goals with six, points with 14, shots with 47 and shots on goal with 20... Aguilar is second in goals (four), points (10), shots (27) and shots on goal (12)... Mangan and Aguilar combined have 10 of the team's 12 goals and 24 of its 34 points... the Blue Demons' four ties equals the season record set in 1993.
