DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Look to Maintain Momentum Against Seton Hall
10/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
DePaul at Seton Hall| 6 PM Wednesday | South Orange, N.J.
BIG EAST Digital Network | DePaul Notes
No. 10/10 Georgetown at DePaul | 1 PM Saturday | Wish Field
|Live Stream
CHICAGO - One clutch victory has put DePaul back in the mix pursuing a playoff berth in the BIG EAST Championship.
Rallying from a 2-0 deficit to prevail 3-2 over Villanova last Saturday at Wish Field vaulted the Blue Demons into a four-way tie with Xavier, Providence and Villanova for the sixth and final playoff spot.
Now, more than ever, it's incumbent upon coach Craig Blazer's side to follow up with a successful result Wednesday night when DePaul (2-10-0, 1-2-0) travels to South Orange, N.J. to face Seton Hall (0-9-1, 0-3-0) in a 6 p.m. BIG EAST matchup.
This will be DePaul's fourth appearance on the BIG EAST Digital Network this season.
It was a dramatic turnaround for the Blue Demons, who gave up an own goal in a 2-1 loss to Northwestern before spotting Villanova the first two scores in the very next game.
"Before the Villanova game, we told the guys we needed an intelligent response and to start with a positive mindset," Blazer said. "We needed to get more play in the final third with more crosses, getting off shots and looking for rebounds.
"Overall, we needed to be better offensively and defensively inside the 18. The players emphasized that everyone needed to continue working together.
"That all came into play when we got off four shots in the opening nine minutes. We made a mistake and went down 1-0. Villanova scored a fantastic goal and it was 2-nil."
But instead of hanging their heads, these Blue Demons fought back.
"The guys showed a tremendous amount of character in staying positive," Blazer said. "Hans Wustling gets a nice cross off and Jake Scheper scores his first goal. Just like that, we're only down 2-1 at halftime and the guys believe they can win this game.
"On our second goal, Jake showed a lot of individual pace. He did well to delay just a bit, drew in the defense and cut the ball back to Simon Megally. All Simon had to do was redirect it in.
"Winning on the penalty kick in the 85th minute showed a lot of determination on our team's part. They were able to overcome adversity while the game was going on. They didn't let any of the referee's decisions have a negative impact.
"We learned that we have to create our own luck. You saw a big improvement in the team's mental maturity, and we'll need that heading into our game at Seton Hall."
Despite some misfortune of its own, this will be the same Seton Hall side that led No. 1/1 Creighton 2-1 in the 72nd minute before falling 4-2 on Sept. 26.
These Pirates will be focused on snapping an eight-game losing streak behind Samuel Geiler who leads the team with three goals and one assist. On the season, Seton Hall has been outscored 25-9.
No. 10/10 Georgetown (7-2-2, 3-0-0) is on the other end of the spectrum with an eight-game undefeated streak. The Hoyas' last two games were a 1-0 overtime win against No. 20 Xavier and a 2-0 victory over No. 21 Butler.
They have also beaten then-No. 1 UCLA 3-1 and then-No. 11 Maryland 2-1.
Leading the way in those four wins over Top 25 teams are Brandon Allen (four goals, six assists), Alex Muyl (four goals, five assists), Arun Basuljevic and Brett Campbell with three goals apiece.
Georgetown is outscoring its opponents 19-10 with a 60-29 margin in points. The Hoyas have outshot teams 152-120 and hold a 68-52 advantage in shots on goal.
