Northwestern
DePaul
Wildcats Trip Up DePaul in Overtime, 2-1
9/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Fans who have been attending the Northwestern men's soccer team's matches at the Leonard B. Thomas Sports Complex this season have certainly been patient, sitting out three ties entering Sunday's match with DePaul.
That patience was tested with yet another overtime match, but finally they were rewarded -- and in spectacular fashion.
Dave Vargas -- arguably the smallest player on the field at the time -- rose up among several teammates and DePaul defenders and slammed a headball from a Gerardo Alvarez free kick that screamed into the upper left corner and propelled the Wildcats to a 2-1 victory.
Vargas punctuated the joyous scene with several standing backflips as the Wildcats improved to 1-2-3 on the season. The win also gave NU the tournament championship; the 'Cats were matched by Eastern Illinois with a 1-0-1 record, but NU's four goals gave them the title over EIU's three goals for the weekend.
"This was a great win for us," said head coach Tim Lenahan. "I felt like we hadn't been playing with much emotion throughout the weekend, and DePaul was taking it to us. But then about midway through the second half we started picking it up and taking it to them a little bit.
"It is great for the young guys to get this result, because they end up winning the match and the tournament. And Dave Vargas is a great kid who has been coming off the bench after starting for us last season. I was excited for him to get such a big goal."
Vargas's goal capped a rugged match in which neither team could provide itself with a standout chance to win. The first two goals of the match came in the first half; after that, both teams dug in defensively.
NU drew first blood in the 15th minute when Daniel Chille was brought down in the box by DePaul goalkeeper Michael Timlin. Alvarez cleaned up the penalty kick, sending it left while Timlin guessed right.
The Blue Demons knotted things 20 minutes later, when Luke Rojo caught up to a pass from Kevin Riemer and slotted a shot past NU goalkeeper Brian Heckenbach.
In Sunday's first match, Eastern Illinois got a second-half goal from Chad Dumonceaux and knocked off Lafayette, 1-0.
Complete all-tournament team is listed below.
NU MATCH SUMMARY
Score by Half
DePaul (1-5-0) 0 0 0 0 - 0
Northwestern (1-2-3) 0 0 0 1 - 1
Goal Summary
NU - Gerardo Alvarez (penalty kick), 14:34
DEP - Luke Rojo (Kevin Riemer), 35:43
NU - Dave Vargas (Alvarez), 106:42
Shots: NU 11, DePaul 8
Corner Kicks: NU 8, DePaul 8
Fouls: DePaul 19, NU 15
GK Saves: NU - Brian Heckenbach 3; DEP - Michael Timlin 3
Tournament Records
Northwestern 1-0-1
Eastern Illinois 1-0-1
Lafayette 1-1-0
DePaul 0-2-0
All-Tournament Team
Gerardo Alvarez, Northwestern
Brad Napper, Northwestern
Sammy Semwangu, Northwestern
Dave Vargas, Northwestern
Jeff Diehl, Eastern Illinois
Kurt Krupa, Eastern Illinois
Jimmy Klatter, Eastern Illinois
Jay Freedman, Lafayette
Jamie Mullarkey, Lafayette
Kevin Riemer, DePaul
Luke Rojo, DePaul
