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Men's Soccer Recaps 2008 Season at Team Banquet
CHICAGO The DePaul men’s soccer program looked back at the 2008 season with the team banquet on Friday evening at O’Brien’s on Chicago’s Northside. The Blue Demons recapped their second straight BIG EAST Championship Semifinal appearance and the coaching staff handed out awards for the 2008 season. Patrick Hopkins and Steffen Vroom earned the Defensive and Offensive MVP awards at the banquet following a team dinner. Hopkins, a junior defender, anchored the DePaul defense that tied the school record of 11 shutouts set in 2007. The Blue Demon backfield allowed just 13 goals in 2008 while Hopkins notched the game-winning goal against Loyola-Chicago on Oct. 15. Vroom was named the Offensive MVP after leading the Blue Demons with 10 points on four goals and two assists. He picked up second team All-BIG EAST honors and was named third team NSCAA/adidas All-Great Lakes Region. Following his goal in the 69th minute over No. 10 USF, the junior forward was named NSCAA National Player of the Week, BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and selected to the Soccer America and CollegeSoccerNews.com Teams of the Week. DePaul finished the 2008 campaign with a 9-7-4 overall record and 5-4-2 mark in BIG EAST play. The Blue Demons advanced to the BIG EAST Championship Semifinals for the second straight year with wins over Pittsburgh and Connecticut before falling to St. John's. DePaul finished the season tied for sixth in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes Region rankings and were ranked 10th in the NCAA rankings with a team goals against average of 0.62. The Blue Demons are in the midst of their Spring season and play at Northwestern on Friday, May 1 at 7 p.m. DePaul faces the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview on Sunday, May 10 before taking on the Chicago Fire PDL team to conclude the Spring season on May 13. Training camp for the 2009 campaign is set to begin at Wish Field in mid-August.
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