Friday, November 9, 2001

Men’s soccer team ‘quit playing’ in loss, coach says
Frogs drop 12th match of year in loss to DePaul
By Dan Smith
Skiff Staff

With just one game left for the men’s soccer team, the team’s attitude is obvious to head coach David Rubinson.

“We have quit playing,” Rubinson said. “I don’t think we played with our hearts.”

Rubinson referred to Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the DePaul Blue Demons (3-12-2, 1-5-2 Conference USA) at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. The Frogs (5-10-1, 2-6-0) helped the Blue Demons to only their second conference victory by giving up two late goals.

Caleb Williams/SKIFF STAFF Junior forward Dustin Sitar swipes a steal during the Frogs’ 3-1 loss to DePual Thursday at the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Complex.

Rubinson said the Frogs have struggled with two things this season: Their inability to finish chances and giving away easy goals to opponents. Both factors were present in their loss to DePaul.

“We had as many chances as they had to take control,” Rubinson said.

The Frogs stayed close through the first half, holding the Blue Demons to three shots on goal. What looked to be a goalkeeper’s duel between junior Michael Lahoud and Josh Chavero of DePaul turned ugly midway through the second half.

DePaul put the game away by scoring two goals in the final 12 minutes.

“Their keeper had a career day against us, and key defensive plays kept the score from being three or four to nothing,” Rubinson said.

Junior forward Nick Browne scored in the 67th minute to put the Frogs on top, 1-0.
After two open-net saves by senior defenseman Davis Bland, DePaul countered with a goal of its own, knotting the score at 1.

“I didn’t think we were cohesive defensively,” Rubinson said.

On the offensive side, the Frogs out-shot DePaul 17-16 but were only able to net one shot.

The Frogs finish their season against Louisville 1 p.m. Sunday at Garvey-Rosenthal.

Dan Smith
d.r.smith@student.tcu.edu