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A late goal by forward Elise Wyatt propelled DePaul to a 1-0 victory over Seton Hall Sunday afternoon at Wish Field.
The match went goalless until the 81st minute, when Wyatt received a through ball with pace from forward Rachel Pitman. Wyatt played the pass forward in stride and scored upper-90 to the far post.
“Rachel played an absolutely great ball, [Wyatt] made a great run and had a great finish,” said head coach Erin Chastain of the goal. “I was really happy that Rachel got to contribute the assist because she had a great game and was really dangerous from an attacking perspective.”
The Blue Demons attack certainly had the upper-hand on the Pirates, creating plenty of scoring chances mainly in the second half. DePaul (8-7-1, 3-4-0 in Big East) did struggle a bit with control, in particular getting called offsides on five occasions.
Neither team had any glaring miscues, however, which kept both teams battling for possession at midfield for the majority of the match.
“I think it was a typical Sunday game — both teams played a really tough, demanding match on Friday, so it wasn’t gonna be pretty,” said Chastain. “But I was happy we grinded it out, got the shutout, created some good chances in the second half and scored a great goal, so all of those were positives out of the game.”
With a two-game road trip on the docket, the Blue Demons were fortunate to come away with a tough win Sunday to gather some momentum.
“We needed to win the game to give ourselves a chance at making the Big East playoffs,” said Chastain. “Our game on Friday against Villanova is huge. I think any time we can get one of our freshmen scoring and get a shutout, that’s gonna give us some confidence headed on the road.”
DePaul matches up with Villanova Friday, Oct. 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.