Blue Demons fall to Flames

Tuesday, September 11

Wish Field

3:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

3-3

UIC

5-1

UIC

DePaul

9/11/2018 5:14:00 PM | MEN'S SOCCER

Box Score

Nuelle makes four saves

CHICAGO - DePaul dropped their contest Tuesday afternoon 0-2 against city rival UIC in a physical battle. The Blue Demons now sit at 3-3 on the season, following the penultimate non-conference matchup before league play begins.

The Blue Demons came out on the pitch strong and energetic, but only had one shot on goal before the Flames would score in the 29^th minute when sophomore goalkeeper Drew Nuelle came out just slightly too far from the box for UIC to slip it past him into the net.

DePaul would keep attacking the line aggressively but UIC keeper Sawyer Jackson would make three saves for his third shutout of the season.

The Flames' second goal would come just before halftime, headed into the net off a corner kick service to double their lead. That lead would remain until the end of the second half as UIC's intensity never faltered, outshooting the Blue Demons 8-3.

While a disappointing result that pushes the all time series to 11-16-3, Head coach Mark Plotkin knows this game can be used as a learning tool for the rest of the season, specifically looking towards Friday.

"I think through the round of play we were pretty happy with how we executed our game plan," Plotkin said. "I thought (during) portions of the game we possessed the ball pretty well, created some good chances, but unfortunately when you play a really good team and you make a couple mistakes - one off our own set piece which they countered perfectly and then another on defending a corner kick - when you play a really good team like UIC, they're gonna capitalize on those mistakes. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a couple back today."

Plotkin also recognized his team's ability to bounce back from a loss like this using key components, just as they did at the beginning of this month, dropping a game to Oakland, 2-1, and coming back a day later to defeat LMU, 3-0.

"Focusing on the little details and those little moments of execution shows that the whole 89 minutes could be good, but if you make a couple mistakes in 1 minute like we did today, you can lose a game," Plotkin said. "So, we just have to learn from it and know that every little detail matters, even if its a set piece or throw in, we just have to focus on all the little details."

Up Next
The Blue Demons return to action on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for their first BIG EAST conference matchup against Providence.

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