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Men's Soccer Announces 2004 Schedule
2004 Schedule CHICAGO – DePaul men’s soccer coach Craig Blazer recently announced the 2004 schedule that begins on Sept. 5 against Valparaiso. The 2004 slate features a pair of Conference USA teams in Cincinnati and Saint Louis that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. “The DePaul soccer program is excited for the challenges of the 2004 schedule,” said Blazer. “Our goal is to qualify for the C-USA Tournament at Louisville in November and this will start right away as we face USF in our second match. We play in two competitive tournaments and as always have great local match-ups. The season will be fun and it would be great to go out on top in our final year in C-USA.” The Blue Demons play their first five games of the season in the Chicagoland area. DePaul opens the 2004 campaign with home matches against Valparaiso on Sept. 5 and C-USA foe USF on Sept. 8. Over the last two seasons, the Blue Demons hold an 11-4 record at Wish Field. The weekend of Sept. 10 sees DePaul in Evanston for the Lakeside Classic. The Blue Demons take on UC-Irvine and host Northwestern at the Thomas Sports Complex. DePaul finishes the five-game tour of the Chicagoland area at Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 15. The team takes the short trip down Halsted Ave. for a 3 p.m. kickoff. Overall, the team will play 12 of the 20 regular-season matches in or around the city of Chicago. The second and final in-season tournament for DePaul is at the University of Dayton, Sept. 17-19. In Dayton, the Blue Demons take on Evansville and Wright State. The Friday match against Evansville marks the second straight year that the Blue Demons and Purple Aces have played in an in-season tournament. Last year, Evansville knocked off DePaul, 1-0, in the season opener at the North Shore Classic in Evanston, Ill. DePaul finishes the month of September with a home match against UW-Green Bay on Sept. 22 before traveling to Drake on Sept. 25 and C-USA opponent Saint Louis on Sept. 29. The Blue Demons finish the regular season with five road games and five home matches. A trip to East Carolina on Oct. 3 starts the month. Defending C-USA regular-season champion Cincinnati comes to Wish Field on Oct. 6 for a 3 p.m. match. Starting Oct. 9, DePaul is scheduled to play four matches in nine days. The run starts at Louisville on Oct. 9 and is followed by a home match against Loyola-Chicago on Oct. 12. The weekend of Oct. 15 sees the Blue Demons hosting Memphis on Friday and Wisconsin on Sunday. Both of the weekend matches are part of a doubleheader with the DePaul women’s team. The regular season wraps up with three of the last four matches on the road. The final home match of the year is set for Oct. 20 against Marquette. The Blue Demons play their final non-conference opponent on Oct. 27 at Northern Illinois before traveling to Charlotte on Oct. 30 and UAB on Nov. 6. The annual C-USA Tournament is set for Nov. 11-14 in Louisville, Ky. The winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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