The rain poured down on Wish Field as DePaul women’s soccer took on Providence College on Sunday in their last regular season game on their home turf. The seniors were honored before the game, but it was Providence who was victorious 105 minutes later as the Blue Demons fell to the Friars 1-0. 

The Blue Demons were coming off a 2-0 win over Creighton University on Oct. 21, but their offense struggled to reach that same energy against Providence. The team finished with only four shots and two shots on goal that were saved. 

Meanwhile, Providence’s offense controlled most of the game and constantly challenged DePaul’s defense and goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson, who made eight saves. The Friars reached 19 shots and nine shots on goal by the end of the game and had eight corner kicks. However, it was the big-time saves by Eriksson and the defense that kept the game tied at 0-0 for 105 minutes.

Eriksson was forced to get to work early by Providence, who took the first six shots of the game. The Friars had a chance to get on the board when a shot deflected off Eriksson towards the DePaul goal but defender Megan Malecha swiftly cleared the ball out of play.

“It was very cold today, so that makes it difficult, but also the game moves so much quicker because the ball is slick and the field’s slick, so you just have to be extra careful and checked in to all moments,” Eriksson said on playing in the weather conditions. “It’s more fun though. I mean, you fly around, you get down and dirty, so that’s the fun part of it.” 

Meanwhile, the Friars’ goalkeeper Emma Bodmer was left untested and standing in the rain for most of the first half as the Blue Demons did not register their first shot until 40 minutes in.

The action remained near the DePaul goal in the second half, with Eriksson continuing to make big saves to keep Providence off the board while the Blue Demons struggled to register another shot.

Providence looked like the more aggressive team at times and had the majority of possession, while DePaul could rarely get close enough to the Friars’ goal to create real scoring opportunities.

The Blue Demon did not manage a second shot until the second half, when forward Kristin Boos sent the ball towards the bottom right corner of the net but it was scooped up by Bodmer. 

DePaul had another opportunity later in the half when a shot from midfielder Brooke Weitzel slipped free of Bodmer’s grasp, but the Providence goalkeeper regained control of the ball before forward Morgan Turner could make a play.  

“The conditions definitely made it tough for both of us,” Turner said. “I think the ball was bouncing a lot and it was hard for either of us to really control the game, but I think that we just had to play really physical.” 

90 minutes was not enough, however, and as the wind picked up and the rain continued to fall, the Blue Demons went to overtime for the first time this season.

The Friars controlled the start of overtime, and earned themselves an early corner kick. However, Eriksson was able to direct the ball away from the goal, and a strong kick by Turner cleared the ball out of their box.

The Blue Demons had their first chance of the overtime period when midfielder Emma Costow was taken down by a Providence player, who was issued a yellow card in response. Defender Grace Phillpotts took the free kick, but it soared right into Bodmer’s outstretched hands. 

In what seemed to be the trend of the weekend, another overtime period was needed as the score remained at zero. The DePaul men’s soccer team also went into double overtime without a score at Wish Field on Saturday and tied with Butler University 0-0. 

However, that was not the case on Sunday. 

The ball moved up and down the field in the beginning minutes until DePaul earned a free kick right outside the Friars’ box. Turner took the kick but bounced it off the wall of Providence defenders. 

With her frustration rising, Turner went to make a play seconds later and took down a Providence player, which she received a yellow card for.   

Following the Providence free kick, a throw-in by the Friars allowed them to take the ball down the field and shoot past Eriksson into the low right corner of the goal to end the game. 

“It’s a skill set to play well in overtime and that’s something we haven’t developed, clearly,” Eriksson said. “I’m sad for our seniors. You want to win every game, but especially Senior Day, so that was disappointing.” 

The top six teams in the Big East conference advance to the Big East Championship. With one game left to play, the Blue Demons are currently tied with Marquette University for seventh place with 12 points and trail St. John’s University and the University of Connecticut by a point.

The Blue Demons take on Marquette in Milwaukee on Thursday to wrap up their regular season with a game that can decide their postseason fate.

“We’ve got to turn up, we’ve got to leave our best game on the field Thursday night,” head coach Michele O’Brien said. “I mean, we have to win the game and it’s a must win and they know that, and we’ve got to treat it like a playoff game.”