SU Loses 2-1 at DePaul in Final Game

Saturday, October 29

Chicago, IL

2 p.m.

Syracuse University

DePaul

Freshman Grant Chong scored the Oranege's lone goal at DePaul.

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

10/29/2011 4:21:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Score By Period	1st	2nd	Final
Syracuse	0	1	1
DePaul	1	1	2
Box Score Oct. 29, 2011 \| Wish Field / Chicago, Ill. \| Attendance: 499

CHICAGO – DePaul (6-10-2, 3-5-1) scored 10 minutes after Syracuse (3-12-1, 1-7-1) tied the game and held on to hand the Orange a 2-1 loss on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Wish Field. Freshman Anthony Hunter tallied the game-winner for the Blue Demons. The loss eliminated SU's chance at qualifying for the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2005.

The host Blue Demons gained an early 1-0 lead when junior Wes Vallentine collected a pass from freshman Thiago Ganancio and flicked the ball past senior goalkeeper Phil Boerger in the 16th minute.

Meanwhile, the DePaul defense kept the Orange in check. Syracuse's first quality scoring chance was in the 40th minute. After a Blue Demons yellow card, senior Nick Roydhouse set up for a free kick right outside the box, but his kick soared over the top right side of the net.

DePaul outshot the Orange 7-5 in the opening stanza, four of which were on goal. Boerger was up to the challenge, stopping three shots to keep it a one-goal match.

Boerger's play in the first half allowed Syracuse to record the equalizer less than five minutes into the second half. DePaul sophomore keeper Eric Sorby couldn't hang on to a shot by SU's Mark Brode and rookie Grant Chong chipped it over Sorby's head to knot the game at 1-1.

Ten minutes later, the Blue Demons pulled ahead on Hunter's goal. After a feed by fellow freshman David Selvaggi, Hunter pushed the ball just past a diving Boerger to give DePaul a 2-1 lead.

Needing another goal, the Orange attacked relentlessly in the final minutes and generated several scoring chances, but couldn't force overtime. Their best offensive opportunity came from junior Lars Muller, who was one-on-one with the DePaul keeper, but chipped the ball over the goal. Junior Louis Clark recorded a pair of shots in the last three minutes of the game. One went wide and the other was stopped by Joe Ferrari, who came on in place of Sorby and played the game's final 34 minutes.

After being outshot by two in the second half, the Orange finished with a 17-11 shot advantage for the game. Boerger made four stops in the final match of his career. Sorby and Ferrari combined for two saves.

Match Notes: Chong's goal was his second of the season ... Syracuse's 2011 freshman class finished with 15 points on the season, the most for an Orange first-year group since 2006.