DePaul University
Marquette
Ben Gets On the End of a Huge Golden Goal
10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
MILWAUKEE - At the bottom of the celebratory pile of joyous Blue Demons was a 5-foot DePaul dynamo who plays with the biggest of hearts.
After watching a 2-0 lead slip away into the dangerous realm of double-overtime, Alexa Ben scored the biggest goal of her young career in Sunday night's 3-2 BIG EAST victory over Marquette.
The win boosted No. 12/8 DePaul (13-0-3, 5-0-2 in the BIG EAST) into first place with 17 points, one point ahead of Georgetown and St. John's. It also kept the Blue Demons among two undefeated teams in the country along with No. 1/1 UCLA (13-0-2).
It was so appropriate that Ben got on the end of the game-winner in the 104th minute that snapped Marquette's 27-game BIG EAST Conference home winning streak.
The freshman from Schaumburg made the run that resulted in a corner kick, and Amber Paul's service landed in the middle of the box. The ball was tapped around until it wound up on Ben's foot.
"No one was really marking me," Ben said. "Maybe this time, being small really helped. They didn't think I'd get the ball. It deflected off someone, and I was all alone. I shot it into the upper left corner.
"It was such an exciting moment, and I'm still overwhelmed by it. My teammates dog-piled on top of me, and my little self was getting crunched."
Marquette's Senior Night turned into the Alexa Ben show. The dynamic rookie stole the spotlight and was a driving force in both of DePaul's first-half goals.
On Paul's goal (seventh of the season) in the 33rd minute, Ben raced to the sideline and kept the play alive by controlling the ball and sending it to the middle of the box that eventually found its way to Paul. Ben was credited with her ninth assist of the season---one shy of equaling the program's single-season record.
Ben set up a penalty kick with a nice move around a Marquette defender who committed a foul in the box to stop her advance. Elise Wyatt drilled home the penalty kick in the 38th minute for her 10th of the season and a 2-0 lead.
"I'm excited because this win means so much for this team," said DePaul coach Erin Chastain. "This is a special group we have that likes to do big things.
"Before the game, we talked about accomplishing another first this season by ending Marquette's home winning streak in the BIG EAST. On our first goal, Alexa got off a nice service and Abby Reed got a piece of it. Amber followed up with a great header from six yards out.
"On our second goal, Alexa beat her defender 1v1 to draw the foul in the box and Elise stepped up and knocked in the penalty kick."
Marquette (8-7-2, 4-2-1) closed the gap in the 61st minute on a goal by Darian Powell. A free kick just outside the box resulted in Mary Luba tying the game in the 87th minute.
"In the second half, Marquette put four attackers against our back line," Chastain said. "They came at us with a ton of energy.
"It was a little disappointing when they tied it on the set piece. In the overtimes, we got back to doing what was working in the first half."
DePaul gets back to Wish Field for a noon BIG EAST match Saturday against Xavier on Senior Day.
NOTES: This was DePaul's final road game for the regular season, and the Blue Demons went 7-0-2 away from Wish Field---best in program history... Wyatt's 10 goals ties her with teammate Abby Reed and Lea Hill (2004) for second in a single season... Ben and Paul have seven goals, tied for the seventh-highest in a season... Ben's nine assists are one shy of single-season leader Erin Walter (2004)... Marquette outshot DePaul 15-9 and came away with a 7-4 edge in shots on goal and 5-4 in corner kicks... Wyatt led DePaul with four shots and one shot on goal... Ben and Paul each had two shots with one on frame... Nina Kodros had a shot on goal... along with goalkeeper Alex Godinez, Kodros, Wyatt, Rachel Pitman, Ben, Jessica Weaver, Sarah Gorden, Elizabeth Endy and Lucy Edwards played the entire 104 minutes.
