DePaul University
Drake
Selvaggi Almost Brings Blue Demons Back
9/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
Sept. 21, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa - What a show DePaul and Drake put on Wednesday night at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
The two teams combined to score five goals in a 34-minute span, but the Blue Demons couldn't quite match Drake's firepower in a 4-2 loss.
David Selvaggi certainly gave it a try, scoring both of DePaul's goals in the second half. The second score came in the 79th minute off an assist from Antonio Aguilar to tie the match at 2-2.
"Tony (Aguilar) put it right down the line," said Selvaggi, who has three goals this season. "I took a couple of touches and put it in the net near post.
"It gave us the momentum, and at that point, I really thought we were going to win it 3-2."
But 17 seconds later, Stanley Jordan knocked in his first goal of the season for the game-winner. Drake's Thomas Schermody notched an insurance goal in the 85th minute.
"It was pretty exciting, and I'm really pleased with the way our guys fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie it up," said DePaul coach Craig Blazer. "David Selvaggi, Zach Forbes, Tony---they all played well.
"Zach did a good job of occupying Drake's big bodies and helping create openings for our offense. Tony did his thing and Selvaggi had a big night."
Selvaggi scored his second goal of the season in the 65th minute on a free kick from 30 yards out. The freshman from Elmhurst curved it into the net past the reach of Drake goalkeeper Rich Gallagher.
The free kick was awarded after a foul and yellow card on the Bulldogs' Bryan Jantsch.
"(Assistant) coach Hobie Hare told me to aim for the far post," Selvaggi said. "After I kicked it, I was hoping one of the guys would get a head on it.
"It just kept going over everyone in the box. When it went into the net, I was pretty surprised."
Selvaggi's score came after Drake had taken a 2-0 lead on Matt Kuhn's fifth goal of the season in the 51st minute. Jantsch sent a service from the corner that Kuhn deflected into the net with a diving header.
Drake (5-3-1) didn't waste any time opening up the scoring. Just 51 seconds into the match, Charles Schwartz scored his fourth goal of the season. Matt Kuhn had taken a shot that was blocked by a DePaul defender. Schwartz deflected the ball into the lower right of the Blue Demon net.
"Drake scored the first three goals on crosses after going wide," Blazer said. "Their second goal off a diving header was a fantastic finish. Their third goal was also a really good finish off a cross.
"We showed a lot of character in coming back, and it's a step in the right direction."
The Blue Demons closed out the first half with an offensive push. Selvaggi had four corner kicks in a span of 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
His fourth corner kick in the 44th minute resulted in a shot by Zach Forbes that went over the net.
Selvaggi launched five corner kicks in the first 45 minutes.
"Our comeback shows we're getting ready for the BIG EAST season," Selvaggi said. "Our performance tonight shows we can compete in the BIG EAST."
DePaul (1-5-1) opens the BIG EAST Conference season with a 1 p.m. match Saturday at Wish Field against Seton Hall.
NOTES: Selvaggi finished the night with four shots, three shots on goal, two goals and seven corner kicks... it was the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career... Forbes played his best game of the season with four shots and three shots on goal... Aguilar had two shots, one shot on goal and one assist... Kyle Gustafson had one shot... the Blue Demons were outshot 14-11 but had seven shots on frame to five for Drake... DePaul had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks... Forbes made his first collegiate start and played the entire 90 minutes... Brian Lunar, Gustafson, Austin Toth and goalkeeper Joe Ferrari also played 90 minutes... Aguilar leads the Blue Demons with three goals, two assists for eight points... Selvaggi has three goals and six points... Thiago Ganancio has one goal and one assist for three points... Anthony Hunter has one assist.
