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Butler Upsets #17 UIC, 1-0
Oct. 15, 2006
Senior John DeVae delivered the biggest goal of his Butler career just under 17 minutes into the contest and Butler held on to defeat #17 UIC, 1-0, in a Horizon League men's soccer match at the Butler Bowl on Sunday, Oct. 15. The victory snapped a six-match winless streak for Butler and lifted the Bulldogs to 5-9-2 on the year and 2-4-1 in league play. The Flames, who entered the contest with a four-match winning streak and a "Top 25" national ranking, fell to 11-2-2 on the year and 4-1 in league action. DeVae put the Bulldogs on the board at 16:54. He broke up the right sideline and took a perfect lead pass from sophomore Eduardo Garcia, who brought the ball up the middle of the field. The Butler forward then fired a shot from 18 yards out on the right side, past UIC goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja and into the left hand corner of the net. The goal was the fifth of the season for DeVae, who transferred to Butler from UIC two years ago. "Our strategy was to get the ball to John," said Butler head coach Kelly Findley after the contest. "We wanted to counter-attack when we could and play the ball to him. He's been our go-to guy, and he's come up big for us this season." DeVae, who had a match-high six shots in the win, had another excellent scoring opportunity in the second half, Butler forward Frank Patano dropped a nifty pass behind his defender to DeVae, who had a point-blank shot at the goal. But Bubonja came up with one of his two saves in the match. After the lone goal of the contest, the match belonged to Butler's defense. The Bulldogs stopped repeated attacks by UIC behind the strong play of goalkeeper Frank Peabody and backs Matt Soldato, Aaron Thompson, Adam Burch and Jared Gillespie. Peabody finished with three saves, including one on a open shot by Pavle Dundjer in the second half, and he intercepted several other cross attempts.
"Our back four and Frank (Peabody) were terrific," praised Findley. "Our two seniors (Soldato and Thompson) really came up big and made some outstanding plays. We made a couple of changes today, and the guys we put in really stepped up." Burch was making his first career start for the Bulldogs, while Gillespie was in the starting lineup for the first time since early September. The victory was Butler's first since a 2-1 win over Wright State on Sept. 24. Since then, the Bulldogs were 0-5-1 in six matches. "We have been so unlucky for the last couple of weeks," said Findley. "I hope this match serves as a springboard for our remaining regular season matches and the league playoffs." |
