For Immediate Release

fulton, missouri

October 26, 2008

Blue Jays dodge red devils rally, O'Malley hat trick 4-3

Boxscore

The Eureka College men's soccer team made a name for itself within the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season by never giving up with tough, aggressive soccer right until the last play. That mantra held true even right up to the final whistle of the season as the Red Devils mounted a furious comeback attempt at Westminster College before finally settling for a 4-3 defeat.

The Blue Jays (8-8-1, 4-4-0 SLIAC), who trounced Eureka 12-0 last season, enjoyed a 2-0 halftime edge after having the wind advantage in the first half. Westminster increased its lead to 3-0 in the 52nd minute, but that did not little to deter the Red Devils (4-16, 1-7 SLIAC).

David Crady (Germantown Hills, Ill./Metamora) set up the first of Brian O'Malley's (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) three goals on the day in the 64th minute to get EC on the board. Neither side found the net for the next 20 minutes until Westminster seemingly iced the game by taking a 4-1 lead with less than six minutes to play on Ryan Orf's third tally of the contest.

However, just one minute later, O'Malley struck again to get Eureka back within two at 4-2. David Doubet (Pekin, Ill./HS), who set a freshman scoring record at EC with seven goals and 21 points on the season, had the assist on the play. His seven assists also set a team season record.

With under three minutes to go, O'Malley completed his second hat trick of the season, bringing the Red Devils to within one goal for the first time since the 19th minute of the game. Playing his final game in the Maroon and Gold, senior Nick Fricano (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) figured into the play with his first career assist.

The Red Devils kept pushing for the tying goal, but ran out of time. Eureka had eight of their nine shots and four of their shots on goal after halftime. O'Malley finished with 16 goals and 38 points on the year.

Mike Hubbard (Wataga, Ill./ROWVA) made 12 saves in his third start at keeper for EC. In the second year for the program, Eureka surrendered a full goal per game less than in 2007, while scoring 27 more goals at the same time. The Red Devils won four more games and nearly tripled their shots on goal to 113. Each SLIAC match they played ended in the same or closer decision than last year.

The Eureka men's soccer team awards will be handed out by head coach Randy Crady at the annual E-Tribe Fall Sports Banquet to be held at 1:00 pm on Sunday, December 7 in the Cerf Center.

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For More Information Contact:

Bryan Moore
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bmoore@eureka.edu