Playing under the shadow of the 'L' at Wish Field on the north side of Chicago Tuesday afternoon, the Valparaiso men's soccer team earned a 1-1 draw with Big East foe DePaul.

Despite out-shooting the Blue Demons over the first three-quarters of an hour, 6-4, the Crusaders went into the half scoreless, as neither side was able to get a shot on frame in the first period, with Valpo's best opportunity coming on a flick off the post in the 25th minute. In fact, the Crusaders' first shot on goal of the game would put Valpo ahead 1-0, as junior Charles Barden (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar) sent a cracker of a shot from 25 yards into the upper right corner in the 66th minute. The unassisted goal was Barden's first of the season.

DePaul equalized in the 75th minute, as in the box following a corner, Jared Blincow found the back of the net. Valpo goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) and DePaul netminder Eric Sorby each stopped two shots in the second half as well as the game entered extra time at 1-1. There would only be one shot on frame in the 20 minutes of overtime, as Jon Smith (McKinney, Texas/McKinney) tested Sorby with an effort in the 94th minute, but the Blue Demon goalkeeper stopped the attempt.

Valpo held a narrow 12-11 advantage in shot attempts on Tuesday, the ninth time in 12 games this season that the Crusaders have outshot the opposition. Valpo also attempted six corners to DePaul's (3-8-2) four.

Valparaiso (1-6-4) returns to Horizon League play at Brown Field this coming Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Cleveland State. The match can be seen live on the Horizon League Network and heard live on WVUR, 95.1 FM Valparaiso. Links for the live video and audio, as well as live stats, will be available through www.valpoathletics.com.