DePaul Downs RV Illinois, 3-1

Thursday, August 23

Wish Field

4:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Illinois

DePaul

8/23/2018 7:13:00 PM | WOMEN'S SOCCER

Box Score

Franny Cerny and Morgan Turner score one each for the Blue Demons

CHICAGO - In a high energy match Thursday afternoon, DePaul's women's soccer team (2-1-0) defeated RV Illinois (1-2-0) at Wish Field, 3-1. This was the second matchup in program history and tied the series record at 1-1.

The Blue Demons quickly found themselves a goal down to the Illini, 1-0, within the first ten minutes. Illinois kept DePaul on their toes defensively for most of the first half leading to a penalty kick for the Illini in the 14^th minute. Freshman goalkeeper for the Blue Demons, Mollie Eriksson - who posted three total saves - picked up her first and most crucial save of the game to prevent her team falling behind 2-0. Head coach Erin Chastain is pleased with the freshman's performance as well as the team as a whole.

"Obviously, Illinois is a good team, so I think we're excited about scoring three goals and winning on our home field; that was a big goal today, just to protect our home field," Chastain said. "I thought we had some great performances and we were without a couple people last minute, so I think our team stepped up. I think you saw our goalkeeper make some key plays, Franny make some key plays on our back line, and we did a nice job of limiting Illinois' chances.

"Certainly, Mollie made a great play. You go down 2-0 and it's a different game. So, for us to stay in the game like that gave our team some momentum and some belief and I think that really helped."

The freshman had faced a PK in the first game of the season and felt a bit of déjà vu Thursday, but her goal was to help her team in any way she could - and she did.

"It was an adrenaline rush to say the least," Eriksson said. "Honestly, I don't really remember much of it because there was so much going on, but I'm so proud of this team. I think that was the start of a new chapter in this game and I think we really turned it around after that."

Turn it around they did. Senior forward Franny Cerny notched the equalizer and tallied her third goal of the season on Thursday, with assists from junior midfielder Bina Saipi and sophomore forward Morgan Turner in the 33^rd minute. The Blue Demons took the momentum from Cerny's goal and ran with it. Just five minutes into the second period, Turner would net her fourth goal of the season (50') off a free kick to push DePaul's lead to 2-1 with 40 full minutes remaining in the match.

The third goal wouldn't come until the 76^th minute from a corner kick from Cerny that bounced off the Illini into their net giving the Blue Demons another goal. DePaul was up 3-1 and only had to grind out 14 more minutes.

The offensive onslaught from Illinois was relentless, but the Blue Demons didn't give in. They faced three corner kicks and one shot while the Illini would continue to spread the ball around the field. Cerny, one of two captains for the Blue Demons, is proud of the way her team fought Thursday and wants to continue the tough mentality and grind throughout the whole season.

"I think its definitely a huge win for us," Cerny said. "I think its really, really exciting. Illinois came off a great win against (#3) Duke, who's a huge team, and they are a Big Ten team, so for us to be able to get this win at home is awesome. Toward the end, we were getting bombarded with lots of shots and I think we did a great job of sticking to the balls, winning the first balls, winning the second balls and had great cover on the back."

Turner echoed her teammate in regard to the energy her team has, especially at the beginning of the season.

"I think it means a lot," Turner said. "I think it shows we can all grind out 90 minutes and score the goals we need to score. I'm really excited to see where we can go this season. I think we have a huge positive energy and everyone plays really well together this year - we play really unselfishly. All of that will help us move forward."

Up Next
DePaul Women's Soccer hits the road for two straight games. They travel to Minnesota for a match on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 6:30 p.m. and will head to Milwaukee on Sunday, Sept. 2 and take the pitch at 1:00 p.m.

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