Men’s Soccer Opens BIG EAST Play at Xavier

CHICAGO – DePaul men's soccer will open BIG EAST action on Friday, Sept. 15 with a road matchup against Xavier. Kick off from Corcoran Field is slated for 6 p.m. CT with live coverage on FloFC.

Setting the Scene

The Blue Demons open league play with a 1-2-2 non-conference record thus far.
DePaul began the season with a 1-0 win over Lindenwood at Wish Field before hitting the road for a match against then-No. 10 Indiana.
Consecutive contests at home saw the Blue Demons surrender a late game winner to Bradley before battling to a draw against local foe Northwestern.
Callum Watts and Colin Mackey are responsible for DePaul's goals on the season. Watts with the game-winner over Lindenwood and Mackey with his first career strike against Northwestern.
Noeh Hernandez leads the Blue Demons in shots with 10 and three on goal while Watts has registered seven. Diego Benitez, Marek Gonda, and Felipe Corral have each fired five shots.
Seven Blue Demons have made their DePaul debut this fall including Watts and Hernandez alongside Christian Baumgartner, Keagan Pace, Liam Mullins, Alex Peters and Jordan Clagette.

Last Time Out

The Blue Demons are coming off a 0-0 draw at Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 8.
Gandhi Cruz kept the Falcons off the scoresheet, making seven saves on the evening.
Felipe Corral led the Blue Demons offensively with four shots including one on frame. Callum Watts added a pair of shots as well as one on goal.
Freshman mid Jordan Clagette made his collegiate debut in Bowling Green, logging seven minutes and firing off one shot.

Gandhi the Goalie

Junior goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz has been outstanding in his junior campaign, totaling 26 saves through five matches.
Cruz's 26 saves ranks 10th amongst keepers nationally while his .867 save percentage is good for 12th.
Cruz was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday, Sept. 11 after blanking Bowling Green in a 0-0 draw last week. The Aurora, Ill. native matched his season high with seven saves against the Falcons while earning the 10th shutout of his career.

International Noeh

Freshman forward Noeh Hernandez rejoined the DePaul program on Wednesday evening after being called up to the Puerto Rican National Team for the second time in three months.
Hernandez represented Puerto Rico in a pair of CONCACAF Nations League matches in Nassau, Bahamas Sept. 9 and 12.
Hernandez earned his first two caps on the international stage, starting both contests and playing a full 90 minutes in a pair of victories.
The Bridgeview, Ill. native dished out a pair of assists in the appearances as one of three teenagers to see action on the veteran heavy squad.

BIG EAST Notes

The 2023 campaign is the first to include 12 BIG EAST Conference teams in men's soccer as the league added Akron as an affiliate member in the offseason.
The league has split into a pair of divisions, Midwest and East with the Blue Demons set to compete in the Midwest division alongside Akron, Butler, Creighton, Marquette and Xavier. The eight-match conference schedule includes a match against each divisional opponent to go along with three matches against foes outside of your division.
The Blue Demons are set to face Providence, Seton Hall and Villanova from the East Region in 2023.
The conference tournament field has expanded to eight teams for the first time since realignment.
The team with the highest overall conference point will earn the No. 1 seed while the team in the opposite division with the highest conference point total will secure the No. 2 seed. The remaining six seeds, regardless of division, will be determined by conference points.
The latest national polls have Akron ranked third and Marquette ranked 13th with Georgetown and Seton Hall also receiving votes.
The Blue Demons are 2-1-2 in BIG EAST openers under head coach Mark Plotkin.

About Xavier

Through five matches on the 2023 season, Xavier owns a 2-2-1 record with wins over Oakland and Cleveland State and a draw versus Wright State.
Xavier has seen four different goal scorers net goals on the young season including top point earners from 2022, Fabrizio Bernal de la Garza and Jerome Jolly.
A season ago, the Musketeers posted a 9-2-7 record and earned the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament before falling to sixth-seeded Creighton in the Quarterfinals.
John Higgins is in his second season leading the Xavier program. He holds a 161-60-37 mark as a head coach.

Series Stuff

The Musketeers lead the overall series, 15-3-3, and are 8-2-1 in matches played on their home turf.
Last time out, the two programs drew a 1-1 result in front of a capacity crowd at Wish Field on Oct. 15, 2022. Cade Hagan put the Blue Demons in front in the 69th minute before Xavier found an answer in the 77th. Xavier was ranked 13th nationally at the time matchup.

Up Next: The Blue Demons return home to Wish Field for a pair of matches next week. DePaul will host crosstown rival Loyola on Tuesday, Sept. 19 before welcoming Creighton to Chicago on Sept. 23 for Alumni Day.

FOLLOW THE BLUE DEMONS
For all the latest information on DePaul Men's Soccer, visit DePaulBlueDemons.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Blue Demons on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

2023 TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket packages for the 2023 DePaul Men's Soccer season are available now. Season tickets start at just $39 and for a limited time include an exclusive DePaul soccer scarf. Single-game tickets and Group Ticket Offers are also available and start at $5. Visit DePaulBlueDemons.com/Tickets for more information.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Baumgartner

Diego Benitez

Jordan Clagette

Felipe Corral

Gandhi Cruz

Marek Gonda

Cade Hagan

Noeh Hernandez

Colin Mackey

Liam Mullins

Keagan Pace

Alex Peters

Callum Watts