CHICAGO, Ill. – Senior Shannon Leamy and freshman Julie Casselman scored second half goals to lead the 18th-ranked Louisville women’s soccer team to a 2-1 comeback win at DePaul on Friday afternoon at Wish Field.

With the win, Louisville improved to 2-0-0 in BIG EAST Conference games and 8-1-0 overall for the best record through nine games in school history. The Cardinals’ previous best nine-game mark came in 2006, when they opened with a 7-1-1 record before eventually earning the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament berth. DePaul dropped to 5-4-2 overall and 0-2-0 in BIG EAST action.

“While I am disappointed with our overall performance, it was another important victory against a good BIG EAST opponent,” said Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. “We will take a look at some areas that need improvement and make sure that we continue to grow as a team as we move ahead.”

After the two teams battled to a scoreless draw in the first half, DePaul opened the scoring at the 61-minute mark when Arianna Foster took a pass from Tara Strickland and connected from seven yards out for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage.

The host Blue Demons held that narrow advantage for more than 15 minutes before the Cardinals evened in the score in the 77th minute on the first goal of the season for Leamy (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS). The goal, which was also the third of her career, was setup when Leamy controlled the rebound on a shot off the crossbar by teammate Jennifer Jones (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS).
 
After tying the score, the Cardinals wasted little time in moving ahead for good as Casselman (Gatineau, Ont./Des Sources HS) scored past a charging Claire Hanold in goal for the Blue Demons less than six minutes later for the final 2-1 margin. The goal for Casselman, which came in the 82nd minute, was her third of the season overall and was her first game-winner.

After taking the lead, the Cardinals’ defense denied DePaul on a pair scoring chances in the closing moments, including one in the final 90 seconds when sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Vancil (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North HS) made her ninth and final save of the game on a shot by Ashleigh Goddard. The nine saves were a career-high for Vancil and the most for Louisville goalkeeper since All-American Joanna Haig finished with 10 saves against West Virginia in 2006.

The Cardinals remained unbeaten in conference play despite being out-shot 18-7 overall, including a 10-6 disadvantage in shots-on-goal. DePaul also finished with a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks and where whistled for nine fouls to Louisville’s four.

Up next, Louisville returns home to host No. 5 Notre Dame on Sunday at 1 p.m., ET at Cardinal Park.