DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Butler
DePaul Tops No. 15 Butler 1-0 on El-Shafei's Golden Goal
10/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO - When his opportunity arrived on Wednesday, Zach El-Shafei was ready to turn a cold, rainy, dreary day into a sun-kissed moment.
El-Shafei's golden goal with five seconds left in double overtime gave DePaul a hard-fought 1-0 victory over No. 15 Butler and energized the Blue Demons' drive to the BIG EAST playoffs.
Coming into the final home match, DePaul (8-6-2, 3-4-0 in the BIG EAST) needed successful results in its final three conference games to sustain hopes for a postseason berth.
El-Shafei's biggest goal of the season would not have happened if not for the extraordinary goaltending of Quentin Low. The junior keeper made a season-high nine saves and three times turned away the BIG EAST's leading scorer David Goldsmith from point-blank range.
Butler (9-5-1, 4-3-0) spent much of the game in the attacking third. But a backline featuring Caleb Pothast, Max de Bruijne, John Freitag, Hans Wustling and Sasa Labovic put forth a yeoman effort deflecting passes and disrupting runs in the box.
In the end, Simon Megally blasted a free kick that was deflected by the Bulldogs goalkeeper and found its way to El-Shafei. Megally was credited with an assist on the play.
The Blue Demons continue their run to the postseason with a 6 p.m. match Saturday at St. John's.
Notes
- Butler outshot DePaul 19-8 and had a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal.
- Erik Rodriguez came off the bench to lead the Blue Demons in shots with three, including two on goal.
- El-Shafei and Megally each had two shots and one shot on goal.
- The goal was El-Shafei's second of his freshman season and second game-winner.
- DePaul has outscored its opponents 27-20 on the season.
- Junior Hans Wustling is No. 6 all-time in career assists with 16, six behind all-time leader Klaus Lunde (1992-95).
