Entering the third month of the season, the DePaul women’s soccer team was still searching for their first home win of the season as they hosted Butler on Thursday. Against the Bulldogs, not only did the Blue Demons get their first win at Wish Field this season in six tries, but also picked up their first conference win of the season with a 2-1 victory against Butler. 

Coming into Thursday, the Blue Demons have struggled at Wish Field this season with an 0-3-2 record and only three goals scored. But for only the second time this season, the Blue Demons’ offense scored two goals in a match which, with a stout defense, was enough to prevail in the end. 

“Most importantly, it was about what response we were going to have to the Creighton game, our staff, our team didn’t feel good about our performance, so we kind of set some goals for this game and I thought came out with a really good energy, scored two great goals,” head coach Erin Chastain said. “It’s a really good Butler team and I think getting three points at home, we haven’t won at home, so we’ve tied, but [a] win is different than a tie. It was nice to see a complete team defensive effort and then some good attacking moments.”

With an offense struggling to create and convert their chances, it was imperative that DePaul took advantage of their early opportunities against Butler in order to win this game. That’s exactly what they did in the first half.

After a dull first 15 minutes of the game, with few chances being created by either side, the Blue Demons picked up the tempo of their game and, as a result, created a couple of promising looks on net. Until the 17th minute, when freshman Kristin Boos received the ball on the edge of the box, turned to her left and fired a rocket into the top corner of Butler’s goal — giving DePaul an early 1-0 lead. 

“I don’t really remember the build-up, but I think it was good pressure, I think Jade Eriksen-Russo won the ball in the attacking third and then I got it on top of the box and finished it – really proud of that finish and the team effort,” Boos said after the game. 

The Blue Demons didn’t let that one goal stop from searching for the second goal of the game, as 17 minutes later they would double their lead thanks to junior Morgan Turner getting on the end of a low cross from sophomore Mary Tiereny. 

“Mary made a great run down the side and was able to place a cross all the way across in front of the net and I was able to get a foot on it,” Turner said. 

As the first half was coming to an end, it seemed like the Blue Demons would go into the break up 2-0, until goalie Mollie Eriksen couldn’t control a low cross played in by the Bulldogs which fell onto the feet of Katie Soderstom, who tapped it in to cut DePaul’s lead in half. 

While the momentum was with Butler going into the break, the second half proved to be even more frustrating than the first 45 minutes did for the visitors. While DePaul’s offense didn’t do much to threaten Butler’s goalie, the Blue Demons’ defense did just enough in the final few minutes of the game to secure the three minutes. 

DePaul will have two days before St. John’s comes to Wish Field on Sunday, when the Blue Demons will look to pick up their second-straight Big East win.