DePaul University
Illinois-Chicago
Blue Demons Missing Fire at Toyota Park
9/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
Sept. 1, 2011
Blue Tube - Highlights
Photo Gallery BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - It was a grand stage on which DePaul encountered its first challenge at trying to become the Chicago area's top college soccer program.
The scene was Toyota Park, where the Blue Demons were knocked off 2-0 Thursday by Illinois-Chicago 2-0.
UIC opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Jesus Torres worked his way to the right side of the box and sent a pass to Eric Frazier who deflected the ball just outside the box past goalkeeper Joe Ferrari.
In the 75th minute, the Flames added the insurance score as Frazier scored his second goal of the match off a penalty kick.
"I'm disappointed we didn't do the things both defensively and offensively that we are capable of achieving," said DePaul coach Craig Blazer. "Defensively, we didn't put enough pressure on them and we didn't win tackles.
"Their forwards were able to make their runs in the final third and put our defense under pressure.
"Sometimes, you give up an easy goal. You've got to do a better job of defending or find a way to score. We didn't do either one."
DePaul (1-1-0) came out strong in the opening minutes and kept the ball in the UIC zone.
But after Frazier's score, the Flames took control and had several dangerous opportunities in the first half. UIC (2-0-0) fired five shots on goal after its initial score, forcing Ferrari to turn away all those attempts on frame. The Blue Demons countered with two shots on goal.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, DePaul was outshot 10-6 in the first 45 minutes and had two corner kicks to four for the Flames.
UIC was paying close attention to Antonio Aguilar, who had two goals and an assist in the Blue Demons' season-opening 3-1 victory over Oakland last Saturday.
Each time Aguilar made a move, there was a Flames player right beside him.
"We generated some offense in the second half that resulted in four corner kicks," Blazer said. "But we didn't get good services in the box.
"UIC has some tall defenders and we kept serving it up high. One of our best chances came in the run of play when David Selvaggi sent a low service to Anthony Hunter, who couldn't connect on his attempt.
"Anthony is learning this is Division I soccer and defenders are not going to give you any easy chances."
Blazer is hoping to see more fire and aggressiveness in his team on Sunday when the Blue Demons take on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Wish Field.
"Our young guys are learning they have to battle every game to earn the right to get a win," Blazer said. "We didn't bring that intangible to the match today.
"I know we're going to come out and play much tougher on Sunday."
NOTES: Blazer said the size of Toyota Park's field caused his defenders to become a little hesitant and indecisive as they worried about Flames players getting behind them... after being outshot in the first half, DePaul had 11 shots in the second half to six for UIC... that gave Blazer & Co. a 17-16 edge in total shots... UIC had nine shots on goal to four for the Blue Demons... in his first start of the season, Ferrari made seven saves... Aguilar and freshman Michael Stankiewicz led DePaul with four shots while Thiago Ganancio had three and Art Garza took two... the Flames committed 21 fouls compared to seven for DePaul... the Blue Demons had a nice turnout of fans at Toyota Park which included the Blue Crew, DePaul students and the women's soccer team.
