DePaul University Athletics
ESPN3 Will Show DePaul's Historic Visit to Bradley
9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
DePaul at Bradley | 7:00 PM Friday | Shea Stadium | Peoria, Ill.
TV: ESPN3 | WatchESPN | Livestats
DePaul Notes | Bradley Notes
DePaul vs Fordham | 2:00 PM Sunday | Wish Field
| Live Stream
CHICAGO - It should be a memorable Friday night for coach Craig Blazer and his Blue Demons returning for the first time to the site of their 2007 NCAA tournament appearance.
Along with the historical perspective, there is the added presence of ESPN3 showing the moment when DePaul (0-2-0) takes the pitch against Bradley (1-1-0) in this nonconference match.
"All of us are very excited for Friday's game," Blazer said. "We're coming back for the first time since the NCAA tournament game in 2007 (2-0 loss to Bradley). That was just a great group of guys that won the BIG EAST Championship and brought us to our first NCAA tournament match.
"With the game being on ESPN3, that's a great platform, and we'll be playing in a terrific environment which will really motivate the guys."
One of those guys is senior defender Jalen Harvey who started for the Bermuda National Team last spring and over the summer in the FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament.
"Of course, we are excited about playing on ESPN3," Harvey said. "This is our chance to prove to the BIG EAST Conference and our opponents what our team is all about. It's going to be exciting to show that to everyone watching on ESPN3.
"I'll really be motivated because that's how I work. I always seem to play better when there are more eyes on me."
Bradley opened the season with a 2-0 loss at Illinois-Chicago last Friday but prevailed in its home opener 1-0 over Houston Baptist last Sunday.
Freshman Frank Bak netted his first career goal in the 29th minute and goalkeeper Logan Ketterer made six saves. Ketterer was named the Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Week.
"Coach Jim DeRose has been at Bradley since 1996 and built a very successful program while also elevating the sport of college soccer," Blazer said. "His teams have won seven Missouri Valley Conference titles and competed in seven NCAA tournaments."
The Blue Demons opened up last Friday with a 4-0 loss to Elon at the John Rennie Nike Invitational in Durham, N.C.
They tightened up their defense two days later in a 1-0 loss to the host school Duke as Zach Mathers scored just 44 seconds into the second half.
"We are trying to bounce back from a disappointing weekend," Harvey said. "We were unlucky in the results, and it didn't totally reflect how we played.
"Duke kind of describes our season as we're going to get better with every game. The difference between Elon and Duke was mental. We were angry and a bit embarrassed about the way we played in the season-opener.
"Nothing makes a soccer player better and more intense than a little anger."
Following the Bradley match, Harvey & Co. return to Wish Field on Sunday for their home opener against Fordham.
After advancing to the NCAA tournament last season, the Rams started out 2015 with a 2-1 overtime loss at home against Boston University.
Fordham's Janos Loebe scored his first collegiate goal in the 74th minute for a 1-0 lead, but Boston found the equalizer in the 83rd minute when Felix De Bona scored on the penalty kick. T.J. Butzke scored the golden goal just over five minutes into overtime.
Sunday's match against Fordham at 2 p.m. will be the second half of a Wish Field soccer doubleheader as the No. 20/19 DePaul women's team takes on Nebraska at 11 a.m.
