CHICAGO -- It’s not often that the defense gets to take over the box score.

Scoring lists are full of forwards, midfielders and strikers. It’s not often that a backliner cracks the charts.

DePaul is the outlier. At least it was Tuesday evening against Fenwick on its home field in the Roscoe Village neighborhood.

The Rams (8-2-1) had not only one, but two, defenders score in their 2-1 win over the Friars.

“That’s a gritty win,” DePaul manager Kyle Kreider said. “We talked about at halftime how it probably wasn’t going to be perfect, and I think we saw that. It was great to see them stay calm and stay patient.

“I think it depends on the situation, and I think we have skilled defenders on the ball. We talk about getting them in positions where they can put the ball on net. The formation was more forward today, so it gave those defenders more of an opportunity to attack.”

Things didn’t always looking rosy for the home team, however. 

After a scoreless first half, Nate Sabatino put the Friars ahead with a shot from near the 30-yard line to put the visitors up in the 47th minute.

“Shooting longer is something I’m more experimenting with,” he said. “We usually have a long-shot specialist, but we hadn’t really tested the goalie all game. I figured I’d shoot it when I was open.”

After the goal, it seemed as if the Friars had DePaul on its heels and were primed to score again.

However, the hosts soon recovered and continued their pursuit of the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division win, making the Fenwick keeper Dominik Ballarin make a couple of key saves in consecutive minutes halfway through the second half.

“When we won balls, we gave them away,” Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. “We didn’t end up being able to continue getting the balls where we needed to get them.

“I liked that we got the first goal, it showed a lot of quality. That was outstanding.”

“I think we gained a lot of confidence after that, knowing we were one goal up,” Sabatino said. “We knew we needed another. We know we need more goals to create a cushion for us to help us get that W.”

DePaul didn’t lose its cool.

“They scored early in the second half, but I think we eventually did a good job of relaxing and staying composed,” Ryan Drayton said. “We understood we have time; we have the ball and if we have that, we’re going to get chances.”

It was a new feeling. The Rams haven’t trailed much.

“This was our first real test of being down this season, especially against a strong defensive team like Fenwick,” Drayton said. “I’m proud of how the guys showed up and kept pushing.”

“Seeing their resolve is what you want as a coach,” Kreider said. “We don’t have to preach to them about having to respond to goals. Everyone on the team knows we have the quality to come back if we do go down. 

“There’s this rich belief where if we find ourselves down, we’re going to trust each other, trust our play and keep going, going, going.”

The deficit was squashed with 13 minutes, 3 seconds remaining and defender Max Galindo standing from about 30 yards away from the goal.

“We really needed something, because we were down. It seemed like we started to force some things,” he said. “I saw an opening, had the space and let it rip.

“The rain from earlier helped too, because the ball got to me faster, so I was able to put more speed on it. It kinda helped it knuckle and make it go where it went.”

The goal, his first of not only the season but his career, evened the score and made the crowd at the stadium go wild.

“It’s a really good experience. I enjoyed it a lot since it was so far out, but I had to stay composed since we did have to come back,” he said. 

The Rams got the game-winner with just under five-and-a-half minutes remaining on something that usually isn’t the source of many of their goals: a set piece.

Drayton crashed the net on a free kick from Dom Scandariato and put in his sixth goal of the year, which is tied for second best on the team.

“I saw Dom cross the ball in, and I think one of their players may have gotten a deflection,” Drayton said. “It landed on my right foot. I wanted to hit it as hard as I could.

“I feel like I’m comfortable attacking and going toward goal. If I have to do it, I know I can do it.”

Added Kreider: “When we come into a game, I think we expect to create opportunities more in the field of play, but we didn’t get the chance to do that because of how compact Fenwick played.”

For Fenwick, it was another close call, but no win.

The Friars are still looking for their victory of the season. 

The team feels as if its getting close to what they need to do to turn the season around.

“It really weighs on us, because I know and I know all my teammates know,” Sabatino said. “We know we’re better than our record says, you can see we’ve improved. 

“Our team chemistry has gotten better, and we’ve been able to connect more. I really think we can play with most teams.”

Fenwick (0-8-3, 0-4-0) lost for the seventh-straight time and suffered its fifth one-goal loss of the season at Marmion on Thursday. The Friars continue a brutal stretch of five road games at league foe Brother Rice on Oct. 1.

DePaul (8-3-1, 2-2-1) fell in its first shutout loss of the season to St. Laurence 2-0 at home Thursday.  The Rams will try to get back on the winning path when Marmion visits Oct. 1 

Starting lineups

Fenwick
GK: Dominik Ballarin
D: Sam Martino
D: Truman Sabatino
D: Conrad Sperry
MF: Beckett Javell
MF: Jack Kupiec
MF: Luca Ponzio
MF: Matt Simon
MF: Luke Menacho
MF: Sam Allaire
F: Nate Sabatino

DePaul
GK: Joe Phillips
D: Malachy McDonagh
D: Bode Bryant
D: Ryan Drayton
MF: Dom Scandariato
MF: Harrison Mellon
MF: Francessco Sessa
MF: Louis Sharp
F: George Hanafee
F: Will Marshall
F: Wyatt Lopez

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ryan Drayton, sr., D, DePaul

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
Fenwick: Nate Sabatino (unassisted), 47th minute
DePaul: Max Galindo (unassisted), 67th minute
DePaul: Ryan Drayton (Dom Scandariato), 75th minute