Sept. 8, 2011

CHICAGO - The Loyola women's soccer team battled through the rain but fell 1-0 to DePaul Thursday night. With the loss, the Ramblers fall to 3-2-1 on the season while the Blue Demons picked up their first win of 2011 to improve to 1-5. The match marked the first time this season the Ramblers were defeated on their home pitch.

The only goal of the match was scored by the Blue Demons at the 29:21 mark. Rebekah Roller unleashed on a corner kick and found a hole just over top of Katie Groesch in goal to score unassisted.

Constant back-and-forth pressure kept the Loyola backline on their toes, but the defense was able to shut down DePaul for the rest of the contest. Led by the strong presence of Valerie Gonyo and Moriah Schwarz, the Rambler defense caught the Blue Demons offsides four times, shielded five corner kicks, fought off 10 shots to keep the hope alive for an equalizer.

It looked as if the Ramblers would tie it up late in the second half, as the players did not give up on their offensive attack. With six minutes left in the game, Alex Brown fired a long shot across the box the ricocheted off of the far post. Soon after, Chelsie Stokes launched a bullet from about 20 yards out that was sent just wide to the right of the net.

Groesch earned her second start of the season between the posts and ended the match with four saves. As a team, Loyola finished with four shots. In addition to Brown and Stokes, Tricia Stonebraker and Allison Rydberg added a shot apiece to the team total. Kristin Papierski also made her first appearance of the season in tonight's match after being sidelined due to injury.

The Ramblers have a chance to make history when they move to Ames, Iowa and face the Iowa State Cyclones on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1:00 p.m. CST. Should the team come away with a victory, it will secure the best starting record in program history. The record to beat dates back to the 1998 squad that went 4-3 in the first seven matches of the season.

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