After scoreless first half, Rams, Spartans combine for four second-half goals in GCAC Red play

By Michael Wojtychiw

CHICAGO -- When DePaul and St. Francis took the field Tuesday at the Rams’ home field in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, it was a meeting of teams who had quite different early seasons.

DePaul had outscored its opponents 35-1 and put up an average of more than seven goals a game. St. Francis had been outscored 19-10 against a schedule that featured four opponents from the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 in its first six games.

The clubs put on a good show and left the pitch on the beautiful spring day with a 2-2 draw in the second Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division match for each. 

“We battled,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. “I thought we created. We played well; we just didn’t get the breaks. Our backs have been really solid, but how do you prevent a deflection that goes in for a goal?

“It’s a tough part of the season, but you’ve got to battle through it. We know we have some down time coming up. That’ll be good for them.”

DePaul got off to a fast start.

“We came out really good the first 20 minutes of the first half, developing possession, holding the ball. We played a lot in the attacking third,” manager Tim O’Reilly said. “We hadn’t played a game since March 26, so we may have gotten a bit tired.

“But we came back and got the equalizer, which was great to see.”

After a scoreless first half, DePaul (5-0-2, 0-0-2) struck first on a play not often seen in the box.

“The defender was going to pass the ball and took a heavy touch, so I slid and somewhat missed it. But it hit my thigh, and I used my thigh to keep possession,” midfielder Eleanor Farrell said. “Then I took a touch and shot it on goal. To be honest, I didn’t really know it went in, but I guess it did.

“At halftime we talked about keeping the intensity, move more off the ball and more communication, because we were stagnant with our communication in the first half. That didn’t allow us to connect passes.”

Getting out to the lead was nothing new for the Rams. They’d only trailed once all year, a 1-0 deficit to Niles North before they roared back for a 4-1 win.

That would change in the second half.

In the 55th minute, St. Francis defender Maeve McGinn earned a penalty kick when she was taken down in the box.

Senior classmate Paige Chrustowski stepped up and drilled the spot-kick into the netting to tie the game.

Just over a minute later, Chrustowski, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor, took a ball from Maicie Schweimer in the center of the box and put the Spartans up 2-1.

“Maicie (Schweimer) came down the line and was able to cut it back to me,” the goal-scorer said. “I was open and able to hit it in the low corner.

“It was nice, because that’s something we’ve practiced in warmups and practices. It was nice to execute it in the game.”

According to Winslow and his Austin Peay recruit Chrustowski, fighting back from deficits has been tough for the Spartans.

Not on Tuesday, however.

“I was happy with that because that’s something we’ve struggled with this season,” the manager said. “There have been a lot more moving pieces than I would have expected, because of injuries and sicknesses. But we’re getting through this.”

“We’ve played a number of really hard teams in the last few games,” Chrustowski said. “I feel like we’ve been able to hold our own a lot. That’s shown us that the potential to be great is there, as long as we work together.”

After going down with 23:52 remaining, the DePaul kept the pressure on the visitors, earning a free kick and a corner in the next seven minutes.

After playing from a position of strength for most of the season, the Rams and their coach wondered how they would respond to adversity.

“It didn’t seem to fluster the team,” O;Reilly said. “We’ve got an experienced team with really fantastic leaders, so they’re that calming influence. I think when we went down, they became even more focused.

“We got the response I was hoping for. The girls recognized their mistakes and worked on fixing them.”

“I think we can deal with it pretty well,” said DePaul midfielder/forward Lucia Trautman. “It just depends on if we can keep our intensity up. When we play teams where we may be overmatched, it pushes us to where we get nervous. Better teams push us, but also make us better.”

The sophomore, who leads the Rams with 18 goals, tied the game with 16:57 remaining.

“I like to hang back on the corner on corners,” she said. “The ball rolled off the center, and I was there for the one-touch. The goalie was able to save it originally, but luckily it went off of her.”

For St. Francis (1-5-2, 0-1-2), the conference match was the team’s third game in four days. With the start of the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic this past weekend, the Spartans played Saturday and Monday. To boot, they closed pool play Wednesday with a 5-1 loss to 15th-ranked Libertyville.

Despite the brutal schedule and tough competition, Chrustowski was happy with how the squad battled.

“It’s been really difficult,” she said. “I feel like a lot of it is mental. To keep running when you’re tired is really hard. But it’s nice to have people who can just come off the bench and pick up wherever the person is coming off.”

DePaul is in a season of new beginnings. The team has moved from Class A to Class AA and switched from its league’s White Division to the more competitive Red side. The Rams also feature a number of newcomers on the roster.

While it may seem like a daunting task, the club is up to the challenge.

“We harp on not being complacent and harp on what our performance level is,” O’Reilly said. “The girls know that it doesn’t get easier. The girls know the competition is much more challenging than last year and know like with this game, it’s not getting easier any time soon.

“The valuable thing is the girls learn from tonight.”

Starting lineups

St. Francis
GK: Kennedy Karl
D: Alyssa Suriano
D: Maicie Schweimer
D: Maeve McGinn
D: Elle Wainscott
MF: Olivia Basel
MF: Shannon Brown
MF: Caroline Kiesler
MF: Clare Andrzejewski
F: Ellie Bielenda
F: Paige Chrustowski

DePaul
GK: Reagan Stecz
D: Kaitlin Reap
D: Caitlin Kailus
D: Maggie Bordes
D: Olivia Garza
MF: Lucia Trautman
MF: Eleanor Farrell
MF: Dylan Greene
F: Anna Rhomberg
F: Ava Buchholz
F: Ellie Glunz

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Paige Chrustowski, sr., F, St. Francis

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
DePaul - Eleanor Farrell (unassisted), 44th minute
St. Francis - Paige Chrustowski (penalty kick), 55th minute
St. Francis - Chrustowski (Maicie Schweimer), 56th minute
DePaul - Lucia Trautman (Caitlin Kailus), 64th minute