DePaul men’s soccer was triumphant in a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas at Wish Field on Thursday, their first win of the regular season. Marek Gonda led the team to victory, with two goals and an assist, while Santiago Rodriguez scored the go ahead goal.

Both teams came out strong in the first half, and the score remained at zero for the first sixteen minutes until Omar Ramadan took DePaul’s fourth corner kick of the half. Jack Richards deflected the ball and Gonda was in the perfect position to put the ball past the St. Thomas goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.

However, St. Thomas bounced back and tied the game thirty-three minutes in the first half. The score stayed tied at one for the rest of the first half.

The Blue Demons came out flying in the second half and spent much time challenging the St. Thomas goalkeeper. As a result, the Blue Demons were able to take the lead again with a goal from Santiago Rodriguez, the first of his collegiate career, and assists from Patrick Watkins and Gonda.

“[St. Thomas is] a tough team, they know what they’re very good at and they were starting to execute on that,” head coach Mark Plotkin said. “I challenged the guys a lot at half time, and they really responded.”

Gonda added extra security for DePaul’s lead late in the second half with his second goal of the game off an assist from Youssef Ramadan. That extra tally was what the Blue Demons needed to close out the game strong and get their first regular season win.

“It felt amazing,” Gonda said. “The guys have been working hard and getting a win here and scoring two goals and an assist right here was very awesome.”

The Blue Demons go on the road to take on Wisconsin on Sept. 5 and Bradley on Sept. 10 before heading home for a three-game homestead that begins against University of Illinois Chicago on Sept. 15.