DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Northwestern
Late Goal Finishes Off Blue Demons
10/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
Oct. 6, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. - This was the kind of soccer match that cried out for an inspirational finish.
The beginning and middle were terrific for DePaul, but in the end, a late goal gave Northwestern a 3-2 victory over the Blue Demons Wednesday night at Lakeside Field.
Alex Mangan, who earlier in the day had been selected among 10 national finalists for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, celebrated that accomplishment with a header goal in the 36th minute off a cross from Art Garza.
It was Mangan's team-leading fifth goal of the season.
"That was such a great goal by Mangan and a very good cross by Garza," said DePaul coach Craig Blazer. "We really played well tonight and showed signs of progress."
DePaul (3-6-2) led 1-0 at halftime, just like last Saturday before Villanova seized a 2-1 lead in the second half.
Guess what?
It appeared to be déjà-vu on the lakefront as Northwestern (5-4-1) scored in the 47th minute on Kyle Schickel's first goal and in the 60th minute on John Rogers' initial goal of the season.
But before anyone in scarlet and blue could start getting discouraged, Antonio Aguilar came through with a brilliant individual effort.
The sophomore midfielder weaved through the Wildcat defense and scored his fourth goal of the season from 15 yards.
"Antonio made some nice moves, and it was just an outstanding goal," Blazer said about the tying goal. "After Northwestern went ahead 2-1, there was an urgency about us.
"We did a lot better today in giving ourselves a chance to win."
The rivalry match appeared to be headed into overtime when a series of deflections in the Blue Demon defensive third led to Layth Masri's first goal of the season in the 85th minute. NU's Matt Eliason picked up his second assist of the night.
"That shot hit the post and went in," Blazer said. "Unfortunately, we just didn't do enough to clear the ball.
"Except for a couple of long throw-ins and a corner kick re-start, we showed some real signs of improvement. We didn't force their goalkeeper to make any saves, but we did have good, solid possession."
The Blue Demons travel to Syracuse for a 6 p.m. BIG EAST Conference match on Saturday looking for their first conference win.
NOTES: Mangan's goal was the 25th of his career, leaving him one behind Cedric Thompson (1992-95) for fifth all-time in DePaul men's soccer history... Mangan now has 54 career points, two behind Thompson who is seventh all-time... the senior forward has a good shot at overtaking Peter Mokran (1985-86) who is sixth with 57 points... Max Suda (1993-94) is fifth with 64 points... Northwestern outshot DePaul 9-4 and had four shots on goal to two for the Blue Demons... Aguilar had two shots and Mangan and Ray De Leon had one apiece... the assist was Garza's second of the season, putting him one behind team assist leader Willy Lara... on the season, Mangan has five goals and two assists for 12 points... Aguilar has four goals and one assist for nine points... Mangan and Aguilar have scored nine of DePaul's 10 goals and have accounted for 21 of the team's 29 points.
