CHICAGO, Ill. - A hat trick by Jalen Harvey erased a 2-0 Drake advantage to propel DePaul (3-2-1) to a 3-2 triumph past the Bulldogs (1-4-1) in overtime in men's soccer action on Wednesday (Sept. 17).
“Despite the temporary heartbreak of an overtime loss this afternoon, there were lots of positives than came out of today,” Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented. “We were able to go to a strong Big East opponent that has proven inhospitable over the years and score two goals on the road after being shutout in our last two games. We controlled the game for a longer period of time than we've been able to do recently against Milwaukee, Marquette and UIC, so that is a positive.”
The Bulldogs outshot the Blue Demons in the initial stanza, 5-4, including 2-0 on goal. DePaul goalkeeper Mack Robinson made saves off of Drake shots from junior Eric Williams (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and sophomore Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) at the 11:05 and 40:01 marks, respectively.
The Blue Demons registered the first two shots of the second half before sophomore James Wypych (Wellington, New Zealand) gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with his team-leading third goal of the season in the 54th minute (53:37).
Freshman Steven Enna (Overland Park, Kan./St. James Academy) extended Drake's advantage to 2-0 registering his second goal of the year, a strike from the center of the box, at the 57:01 mark. Earning assists on the tally were Williams and Wypych.
“We got a pair of terrific goals from James (Wypych) and Steven (Enna), two of our young attack players, so I was pleased to see that,” said Holmes.
In the 80th minute (79:19), Harvey cut DePaul's deficit in half connecting on a header for his second goal of the season off an assist from Hans Wustling.
Just over six minutes later at the 86:34 mark, Harvey netted the equalizer for DePaul delivering his second goal of the game off a scramble in front of the Drake net.
The Blue Demons missed on the first two shots in overtime before Robinson saved Wypych's shot attempt at the 97:00 mark.
Harvey capped his three-goal performance 28 seconds later for the Blue Demons netting the golden goal in the 98th minute (97:28) to complete the comeback for DePaul.
“I think we're growing stronger and more mature,” stated Holmes. “At one point late in the game I looked out on the field and saw nine of 11 positions occupied by underclassmen. That means we will have to be patient as they develop and mature both emotionally and physically. We now have to learn to hang on and control those games when we are up 2-0 on the road. At 2-0, we made mistakes in the back and failed to capitalize on easy opportunities at the other end and the combination of the two was ultimately our undoing.”
On the strength of 13 shots in the second half and overtime, the Blue Demons posted a 17-9 margin in shots, including 9-5 on goal.
Wypych led the Bulldogs with a team-high two shots, both on net, while seven other Drake players each recorded a shot. Harvey collected a game-high five shots for DePaul.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Darrin MacLeod (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) made all of his game-high six saves in the second half for Drake. Robinson finished the affair with three stops for the Blue Demons.
“We came into the game having accumulated four yellow cards, and perhaps our three yellow cards today were results of breakdowns in discipline,” said Holmes. “When we needed to keep our poise, we occasionally resulted in clumsy tackles to compete.”
Holmes offered credit to the defensive efforts of Drake's backline led by redshirt junior Alec Bartlett (Overland Park, Kan./St. James Academy).
“Alec (Bartlett) and his back four were in general very good this afternoon and I think we created more chances in the 97 minutes we played today than in the course of the last couple of games.”
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday (Sept. 20) traveling to UMKC for a 1:00 p.m. tilt versus the Kangaroos.
