Elise Wyatt’s second half goal was enough offense for the DePaul women’s soccer team as they overcame late pressure from the Butler Bulldogs in a 1-0 victory.

It was the Blue Demons’ fourth straight win and they remained unbeaten at home in 2013.

The first half was rather slow, with neither team getting an abundance of good chances in the first 45 minutes. Butler did get a good chance in the 21st minute off of a free kick from just outside the box. Freshman Serina Kashimoto drove a low ball towards the goal that went off the post and out of bounds, which kept the score level in that 21st minute.

The teams went into the locker room level at 0-0.

The sun came out in the second half and so did the Blue Demons’ offense. In the 60th minute, junior defender Nina Kodros sent in a cross from the left side and found sophomore forward Elise Wyatt on the other side, who finished the score near post to put DePaul up 1-0 in the second half. It was Wyatt’s team-leading sixth goal of the year.

Butler almost equalized in the 65th minute when a free kick sent in from about 30 yards out went off the head of freshman midfielder McKenzie Muchow and went past Demons’ keeper Alex Godinez. It was tapped into the net by freshman midfielder Nicole Naclerio but she was ruled offside and the Bulldogs were kept off the scoreboard.

The Bulldogs kept threatening, however. In the 70th minute, junior forward Elise Kotsakis sent in a rocket towards the goal that went above the hands of Godinez but off the crossbar and out of bounds.  

On the other side, DePaul was keeping up with Butler’s intensity. Freshman forward Ana Greik got space in the box and fired a shot far post from the edge of the six-yard box. A tremendous diving save from freshman keeper Jayne Heinrich stopped the shot and kept Butler within one score.

The Bulldogs continued the pressure throughout the rest of the second half but DePaul kept absorbing the offense. Eventually time ran out for Butler and the Demons held on to win 1-0.

Head coach Erin Chastain admitted she was surprised at the team’s performance today, saying that she expected more from the team.

“Obviously we’re happy to get the win and to score a nice goal but we gave them far too many chances,” she said. “I was disappointed in the way we performed today.”

Chastain did, however, talk about the good performances from this game, including Kodros and Wyatt’s efforts on the goal and Rachel Pitman’s play on defense.

“There were bright spots in the game but it wasn’t a consistent team performance from our group,” she said. “We’ll obviously have to have that on Sunday to have a chance in the game.”

Wyatt echoed Chastain’s statements about the game, talking about how the team may have been overlooking this game in anticipation of the match with Marquette this Sunday.

“A win’s a win but I think we were really looking forward to Marquette,” she said. “It’s a huge game for us and I think we’re all excited for it.”

She also talked about DePaul’s trouble with the Butler back line, which featured five defenders, an unorthodox amount.

“I had no idea what to do, it was so congested in the backline and our forwards were not ready for that,” she said. “It was just confusing.”

The Demons host Marquette on Sunday, which is senior day for the six seniors on the team.