DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
UIC
Blue Demons Come Up Short 1-0 in Crosstown Rivalry Match
9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO - This wasn't exactly what Mack Robinson had in mind when he made his first start of the season on Thursday at Wish Field.
Robinson and the DePaul back line kept the zero until late in the second half of a 1-0 nonconference loss to Illinois-Chicago.
Senior co-captain Robinson described the match as "a battle of the midfield" as both teams took turns neutralizing threats before they could advance and set up in the attacking third.
It took something out of the ordinary to break the scoreless deadlock.
In the 84th minute, UIC goalkeeper Andrew Putna hit a deep punt that Flames teammate Jorge Alvarez got a touch and sent it along to Sasha Simon. His header popped into the left side of the DePaul net as UIC improved to 3-2-1.
"Our scouting report had told us that Putna has a big punt," Robinson said. "We had held them down most of the second half.
"On that play, they have some quick forwards who were able to get behind our backs and put it away.
"Sometimes, things go your way and sometimes they don't. This was a Chicago rivalry and both teams came out to play right from the start. Our defense was great. We gave up one opportunity and they took advantage of it."
Robinson has been working his way back from an injury, and the Blue Demon coaches did not want to rush him back too soon. He came off the bench twice before being inserted Thursday into the starting lineup.
"It was good to get Mack back along with Kevin Beyer, who had missed several games with an injury," said DePaul coach Craig Blazer. "We're counting on both of them to help us out moving forward."
Except for the final result, Robinson was upbeat about his team's performance.
"UIC has some pretty talented backs and so do we," he said. "I thought our defense did a fantastic job today. We had a pretty good chance to score in the first half, but Putna is pretty good."
DePaul (1-5-0) is back in action with a 7 p.m. match Saturday at Drake.
NOTES: Illinois-Chicago outshot DePaul 8-2... the Flames had a 3-1 edge in shots on goal... there were a total of 40 fouls whistled in the match and nine yellow cards... Jake Scheper and Philipp Koenigstein each took one shot for the Blue Demons... Scheper had the team's lone shot on goal.
