DePaul University
1-1-0, 0-0-0
Oakland
1-2-0, 0-0-0
Michele O’Brien Earns First Victory with Win over Oakland
8/26/2021 8:46:00 PM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
Morgan Turner's second half goal leads to 1-0 win
ROCHESTER, Mich. - DePaul women's soccer head coach Michele O'Brien earned her first-career win on Thursday in Rochester, Mich. with a 1-0 victory over Oakland. O'Brien's squad was propelled to the win by a Morgan Turner second-half strike which was the lone goal in the non-conference contest.
"I'm so proud of the team for executing the game plan and learning from our previous two games," said O'Brien. "We were on top of the game in the first half but didn't capitalize on our early chances. Luckily, we were able to execute early in the second half."
DePaul (1-1) outshot the Golden Grizzlies 15-1 in the first half, putting six off the attempts on target. However, Oakland was able to fend off the attacking chances, keeping the game scoreless heading into the break.
Immediately after halftime, Turner was on the attack. Turner scored in the 47th minute to put DePaul in front. DePaul was able to effectively defend for the remainder of the second half, keeping all five Oakland shots off target in the final 45 minutes.
"1-0 leads are tough and it's a great learning experience for our group to experience how gritty, disciplined and focused you need to be at the end of the game to secure the shutout and win," said O'Brien.
O'Brien collects her first career win after a narrow defeat versus Iowa last week in the season opener. O'Brien is the fourth head coach in program history and has assumed the head coaching position after serving as an assistant within the program since 2009.
KEY STATS
- Turner found the back of the net after leading the Blue Demons in scoring in each of the last two seasons. The game-winning goal was the first for Turner since a game-winning strike versus Creighton on March 14. Turner collected six game-winning goals during the 2019 season.
- Mollie Eriksson completed the shutout in net for the Blue Demons. Eriksson made one save and dealt with a total of six Oakland attempts. Eriksson's last clean sheet came in a win versus Butler on March 21.
UP NEXT
DePaul returns to Chicago to host UIC at Wish Field on Sunday at 4 p.m. DePaul will then hit the road for matches versus Milwaukee and Michigan.
For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Soccer, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
Morgan Turner (1)
GOAL by DEP Turner, Morgan.
46:33
