In Short…

Sophomores Connor Stevenson and Alec Lasinski found the back of the net as No. 14/11 Loyola defeated city-rival DePaul by a final count of 2-0 this afternoon at Wish Field in Chicago, Ill.  With the win, the Ramblers improve to 9-1-0 overall (3-0-0 MVC), while the Blue Demons slip to 5-5-2 (0-3-0 BIG EAST).

 

Coach Jones’ Thoughts…

“DePaul is an extremely difficult opponent every year and today was no different.  It’s obviously a local rivalry, a lot of players know each other, and then add in the unique occasion today of the Megally brothers being on opposite sides.  There was plenty of emotion in today’s game.  I was happy with our performance overall and thought the guys handled our third consecutive road game very professionally.  Now we prepare for a good Drake team who we had a hard battle against a couple weeks ago.”

 

How It Happened

Loyola quickly established itself on a mild afternoon in Lincoln Park as it pinned the Blue Demons back in their own third early on.  Sophomore Ryan Walker unleashed a blast from 20 yards out in the 13^th minute that forced a diving stop out of Quentin Low, the Blue Demon goalkeeper.  Loyola continued to dominate possession as the half entered its middle stages but struggled to break down the hosts in the final third.

 

Stevenson came on as a substitute in the 34^th minute and gave the Maroon & Gold the spark it was looking for with time winding down in the first half.  The Woodbury, Minn. native was on the receiving end of a pass from fellow sophomore Fabian Lifka that he slotted home at the far post from 10 yards out to give Loyola a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

 

The work of the Rambler backline shined in the opening minutes of the second stanza as both Erik Rodriguez and Simon Megally had attempts blocked.  Junior Elliot Collier and Lasinski combined to double Loyola’s advantage just before the hour mark.  Collier took off on a strong run though the midfield and fed a streaking Lasinski down the left side.  The Ann Arbor, Mich. product did the rest as he fired over an onrushing Low and into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

 

Collier nearly added a third for the Ramblers only five minutes after Lasinski’s strike when his blast from near the penalty spot was blocked.  Loyola continued to frustrate DePaul with time winding down.  John Freitag notched the Blue Demon’s lone shot on target of the afternoon with only seconds remaining but was denied by redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Chekadanov to preserve a 2-0 triumph.

 

Looking At The Numbers

- This afternoon’s victory marked Loyola’s first on the road at DePaul since a 5-2 win during the 2000 season.

- With today’s win, Loyola has won back-to-back games against its rival to the south for the first time since the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

- Lasinski netted his fourth goal of the year during the second half.  He now shares the team lead in the category with Collier.

- Today’s victory was also its third road win of the season, which matches the team’s total in the category from 2015.

 

Up Next

Loyola returns to the friendly confines of Loyola Soccer Park on Saturday evening to host Drake in a Missouri Valley Conference fixture.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Rogers Park.

 

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