DePaul University
Purdue Fort Wayne
Men’s Soccer Kicks Off 2025 Season Against Purdue Fort Wayne
8/20/2025 5:31:00 PM | MEN'S SOCCER
Blue Demons and Mastodons kickoff at 4pm on Thursday
CHICAGO – DePaul men's soccer is set to open the 2025 campaign Thursday, Aug. 21 when Purdue Fort Wayne visits Wish Field for a 4 p.m. kickoff. The matchup will stream on ESPN+ with live stats available via StatBroadcast.
Every DePaul soccer match this season will offer free admission.
Demon Doings
DePaul begins the 2025 season looking to build on the success of the previous campaign in which the Blue Demons appeared in the postseason for the first time in eight seasons.
The Blue Demons will look to tap into depth at each position brought on by veteran leadership alongside the development of youthful talent. Headlining the returning core is BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and All-BIG EAST Team selection, Noeh Hernandez. The junior earned the conference's Midfielder of the Year honor a season ago after scoring eight goals and compiling nine assists for a total of 25 points. He was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's preseason top 100 players, checking in at No. 21.
Fellow juniors Keagan Pace and Liam Mullins will lead the press with the pair totaling 11 and 10 points, respectively, in 2024.
Captain Callum Watts returns to the midfield unit after missing the large part of last season due to injury and is joined by veterans Tyson Amoo-Mensah and Jordan Clagette. Budding sophomore Max Padua is also expected to play a larger role after making 16 appearances and eight starts as a freshman.
On the back line, Ethan Gordon returns from injury to captain the defense alongside sophomore center back Evan Jimerson. Redshirt-junior Christian Baumgartner will play a pivotal role in DePaul's success after starting 15 matches and logging over 1,300 minutes last season. Ryan Thomas and Nolan McGuire are also expected to make significant contributions.
Graduate student Santiago Davila is back in goal for DePaul after starting all 17 matches in 2024 and making 66 saves.
Head coach Mark Plotkin enters his eighth season leading the Blue Demons. The 2010 DePaul graduate inked a contract extension in the offseason keeping him at the helm of the program through January of 2028.
Fresh Faces
Plotkin and his staff welcomed seven newcomers to the program in the offseason including a pair of freshmen in Sam Duncan (Charleston, S.C.) and Nathan Laird (Naperville, Ill.) in addition to transfers Tyler Flowers (Penn State), Joon Han (Salt Lake Community), Gavin Netzel (North Carolina), Sam Tinoco (West Virginia) and Eli Wachs (Cal). Each of the newest Blue Demons has three of more years of eligibility remaining.
Season Openers
The Blue Demons are 14-23-5 all-time in season-opening matches and have won two in a row after opening the 2024 campaign with a 4-3 victory at UIC. In season openers at Wish Field, DePaul is 7-5-2. In Plotkin's seven-year tenure as head coach the scarlet and blue are 3-2-2 in the first game of the year.
Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons went 7-7-2 in 2024 including a 4-4-1 record in Horizon League play while advancing to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Head coach Stephen Gorton, in his sixth season, brings back All-Horizon league selections Andrew Hollenbach and Shane Anderson while welcoming in 10 newcomers this fall. Purdue Fort Wayne was selected to finish fifth in the preseason coaches' poll, its highest predicted finish in the history of the poll.
Series Stuff
Thursday's matchup is just the fourth meeting between the two programs and first since the 2002 season. Purdue Fort Wayne leads the series 2-1-0, while DePaul won the most recent meeting and is unbeaten against the Mastodons in Chicago.
The Blue Demons are 18-20-2 all-time against the current configuration of Horizon League institutions.
For Chase
The Blue Demons have dedicated the 2025 season to teammate Chase Stegall who tragically passed away at the age of 20 on June 2. The program will honor Chase, who was known for his infectious positivity, dedication to his teammates and genuine demeanor, with a No. 19 patch on all kits this season. The Blue Demons have also installed a Chase Stegall Wall of Positivity in the program's locker room for a daily reminder of his kind and loving spirit.
Up Next
DePaul will continue its six-match homestand to open the season on Sunday, Aug. 24 when Oakland travels to Lincoln Park. First touch is set for 12:30 p.m.
