Box Score
CHICAGO - The Loyola men's soccer team fought through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods to settle for a tie against cross-town rival DePaul on Wednesday night at Loyola Soccer Park. An own goal by DePaul gave the Ramblers the equalizer they needed to send the match into overtime, and heavy defense and great goalkeeping held the teams to a draw. Both teams move to 1-3-1 on the season.
The Ramblers were caught on their heels early in the match. At the 4:27 mark, DePaul made the first scratch on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal by David Selvaggi. The goal established momentum for the Blue Demons and left the Ramblers playing catch-up for the remainder of the match.
It seemed as if DePaul would walk away with the win until mere minutes before the final whistle, DePaul's defense committed an own goal in an attempted clear to tie the match 1-1.
Following the own goal, the momentum shifted enough to give the Ramblers back their spark. Defense stepped up their game to, after allowing 13 shots in regulation, allow only one shot on goal in the overtime periods. The combination of Erik Warren, Alec King, Eric Shoendorf and Justin Koehleralso worked to catch DePaul offsides four times in the final 20 minutes. Loyola's offense also saw a big difference in the final half of the match as the team combined for 6 shots (of 9 total) after the tie was set.
Both teams worked hard in overtime to notch a game-winner. At the 6:47 mark, Loyola goalkeeper Peter McKeown made a fantastic diving save to stop a header. With just under three minutes left in the contest, junior Rambler Eric Nocklaunched a shot from about 20 yards out that curved to the upper corner of the net. Joe Ferrari in goal for DePaul got his fingers on the ball enough to redirect the shot out for a corner kick.
Nock led Loyola with three shots in the match while James Howe and Brian Bement finished with two a piece. Reed Patterson and Eric Marofskeeach added one shot to round out the team total of nine. McKeown played all 110:00 minutes in goal and finished with seven saves to move to 1-1-1 on the season.
"It was good to see the guys work back into the game," said head coach Brendan Eitz. "We came out slow but by the end, I thought it was a level match. Mckeown made a great save late in the match to stop a win and DePaul's keeper made a good save against a great shot from Nock."
Next up, the Ramblers will head to Peoria, Ill. to compete in the Hotels and Grand Prairie Classic hosted by Bradley. They will face Evansville on Friday at 5:00 p.m. CST and Bradley on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CST.
