DePaul Battles to First Draw of Season against Seton Hall

Saturday, October 6

Wish Field

1:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

4-6-1, 1-2-1

Seton Hall

4-3-2, 1-2-1

OT 3

OT 4

Seton Hall

DePaul

DePaul Battles to First Draw of Season against Seton Hall

10/6/2018 4:13:00 PM | MEN'S SOCCER

Box Score

Zach El-Shafei scored the equalizer in the 58th minute

CHICAGO - Blue Demon men's soccer recorded their first draw of the season Saturday against Seton Hall, 1-1, in double overtime fashion during a special Alumni Day on Wish Field. The men's soccer program welcomed back 40 former players for a special halftime celebration of longtime DePaul benefactor Jack Cummins' life.

In a defensively heavy first half, the Blue Demons only managed to get off two shots on goal while sophomore Drew Nuelle made three saves in between the posts. The transfer goalkeeper allowed the Pirates' only goal in the 41^st minute just before halftime.

DePaul would return to the pitch for the second half rejuvenated and ready for action, scoring the equalizer in the 58^th minute. A free kick from Jake Fuderer was blocked and the ball popped out to sophomore Zach El-Shafei, who subsequently buried it into the back left corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

The Blue Demon offense would tally 10 shots during the second period and Seton Hall would fire off five, but the match would run its course of two full overtimes without another goal.

Key Numbers
16...Number of shots both teams tallied up on Saturday.
10…Corners DePaul won against Seton Hall, who earned 4.
8...Saves Drew Nuelle made in goal, bringing his season total to 45.
1...First draw of the season for the Blue Demons.

Quotes
Head coach Mark Plotkin

On Alumni Day...
"The show of support was incredible. When I walked into the room to speak to everybody beforehand, I couldn't believe how many people were there. I couldn't be more thankful to be an alum and be more proud to be an alum; and to put out a performance that these guys and those guys can definitely be proud of going forward. It sets a standard for Alumni Days in the future. We want them to keep coming back and we're going to put on performances like this. Hopefully next year we can get a W for them."

On his squad's overall performance...
"Very happy with the response in the second half and the overtime. I thought we put them under a lot of pressure and their goalkeeper came up with some phenomenal saves off the line. Not so happy with the way we started the game, but that's why its 90 minutes. We get to have time with an opportunity to get back in the game, only down 1-0; the guys fought back and Zach scored a great goal, just the overall effort, enthusiasm and work rate that came out in the second half, I was extremely proud of."

On DePaul's lone goal of the day...
"It wasn't the prettiest goal in the world, but in soccer anything that gives us a goal, it'll work. We've been telling Zach any opportunity he gets, he has to put it on frame. I was happy. It was a difficult shot through a crowd, which is something only he can do, so I'm proud and really happy that he scored."

On Nuelle's performance in goal...
"He was outstanding. A couple of the saves he came up with were world class. That's why we love having him and that's why we brought him here. He gives us a chance to win games, to come back and draw games and just give us an opportunity. He's so good that it's a nice safety valve to have him back there, knowing that if our guys do give up a shot, he's going to be bale to come up with a big save. Every now and again, you just need him to make a big save and today he did."

On going up against Northwestern on Wednesday...
"I'm hoping we can bottle up our efforts in the second half and overtime and make that stand for 90 minutes. That's going to be the biggest thing. It was nothing tactically, it was just an attitude and mentality. We show what we can do when we're completely all switched on and in tune, so I'm excited to see what we can do on Wednesday."

Up Next
DePaul hits the road for one more non-conference game against city rival Northwestern on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the BTN Plus and the BTN2Go App.

Quick Scouting the Wildcats (4-5-2, 0-3-1)
Northwestern is on a two game losing streak after being shutout against two ranked teams: 2-0 vs. #19 Michigan and 3-0 vs. #15 Notre Dame. Camden Buescher has notched three goals so far this season while Ty Seager has tallied two assists. Miha Miskovic has racked up 35 saves in the goal and posts a save percentage of 0.715.

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