Blue Demons Defeat EIU in final exhibition match, 2-1

Tuesday, August 21

Wish Field

2:30 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Eastern Illinois

Team	1	2	Final F
Eastern Illinois	0	1	1
DePaul	2	0	2

Blue Demons Defeat EIU in final exhibition match, 2-1

8/21/2018 5:37:00 PM | MEN'S SOCCER

Box Score

de Bruijne and Iscra both scored for DePaul

DePaul vs. Eastern Illinois (exhib.) | Wish Field | Chicago, Ill. |

CHICAGO - In their 2018 season home opener, DePaul men's soccer claimed victory over Eastern Illinois Tuesday afternoon, 2-1, on Wish Field at Cacciatore Stadium.

Both goals came for the Blue Demons in the first 30 minutes of the exhibition match. Junior defender Max de Bruijne put DePaul on the board after scoring his first goal at DePaul in the ninth minute off a corner kick from freshman forward Jake Fuderer. The second goal for the Blue Demons was netted by sophomore midfielder Timmy Iscra. Sophomore Istvan Wilhelms would notch an assist on the second goal that came in the 27^thminute.

Iscra was pleased with getting the W against EIU and has noticed the growth of his team.

"I definitely think we've grown a lot as a team," Iscra said. "We're trying to make our biggest problems our biggest strengths. I think these two games have identified some weaknesses and some things we can work on but have also showcased some of our strengths."

He said the team's main goal is to defend the field this season and they will try their best to keep it that way. de Bruijne echoed that statement and knows that's partly due to a teammate that took the pitch again this season after coming back from an injury.

"First of all it's great to have one of our leaders back on the field, (senior midfielder) Bryan Simons," de Bruijne said. "As a team, with the first half, coach named it for us: we played great and that's just something we've got to pick up and take with us to Kentucky."

Head coach Mark Plotkin was impressed by the way his squad performed offensively on Tuesday. He acknowledged an improvement in the team's strategy, discipline and organization.

"This game gave us a great chance to give every player who's healthy an opportunity to play and see what we're working with this year," Plotkin said. "With the group of guys that were out there for the majority of the game today, I thought they looked fantastic. They were organized, weren't giving up very many chances, scored a couple of great goals, and could've had a third that was a gorgeous counter attack from our guys that I was really excited about, but I think that's something we can build off of and something really exciting to move forward with."

Two of those players included freshman who started against the Panthers - freshman midfielder Patrick Watkins and freshman forward Jake Fuderer. Plotkin praised their play following the match.

"I thought they were fantastic," Plotkin said. "Patrick has been developing extremely well in training and emerging as one of our most solid defensive guys. He's extremely coachable and competent on the ball. Fuderer has been great. He's never played that position ever and he's taken it in stride and just been fantastic."

Late in the game, two yellow cards were handed out to two EIU players before freshman defender Erik Isaksson assisted by junior midfielder Jake Andrews put the Panthers on the board in the 83rd minute to close the Blue Demons' lead to one. DePaul would hold them off for the rest of the game and secure their first win of the season - Plotkin's first career win as a head coach.

"It feels pretty awesome," Plotkin said. "It was fun being back on Wish Field, on the sidelines now as a coach. It definitely feels pretty special and it feels awesome to be home and start 1-0 at Wish."

UP NEXT
Blue Demon Men's Soccer will open up the 2018 regular season with a trip down to Lexington, Ky. to face the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 24.

Live Coverage
For Friday's match, fans can visit the DePaul men's soccer schedule page for all live coverage, links and more. Full recaps and statistics after each match this weekend will be posted to the Men's Soccer page on DePaulBlueDemons.com.

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