DePaul men’s soccer’s defensive season opener ended in a 0-0 tie on Friday, Aug. 26 against No. 25 Bowling Green. 

“It was a positive result for our guys,” head coach Mark Plotkin told Newsline. “Bowling Green is a great team, there’s a reason they were ranked so high in preseason. I’m happy at the way we competed and felt a 0-0 draw was a fair result. Credit to our back line and goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz for staying strong and coming up big when we needed them. We’ll focus on recovery and prep for a tough Bucknell team on Sunday.”

The Blue Demons offense didn’t contribute in Friday’s defensive matchup, which resulted in the team only landing three shots on goal throughout the game. DePaul was outshot by Bowling Green 17-5 and drew only one corner kick during 90 minutes of play.

DePaul’s three shots on goal came from junior midfielder Omar Ramadan, graduate student defender Will Stroud and junior midfielder Kristian Malinich.

The highlight of today’s matchup for the Blue Demons was the performance of junior goalkeeper Ghandi Cruz. He played a significant role in keeping Bowling Green scoreless, recording six saves on the day.

DePaul will be back in action on Sunday, Aug. 28 at Wish Field against Bucknell University with first touch set for 1:00 PM CST.   

Connect with Tom Gorski: @ThomasGorski33 | [email protected]