CHICAGO, Ill. - Freshman Austin Gochneaur scored the first two goals of his collegiate career to help the Western Illinois men's soccer team defeat DePaul 2-1 at Wish Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Western Illinois improves to 1-2 with the win, while the Blue Demons even their record at 1-1.
After the Leathernecks went scoreless the first two games, Gochneaur struck just 65 seconds into the match to put Western Illinois ahead 1-0 on a Mario Alvarez assist.
DePaul tied the game later in the half when Brian Hindle scored off a David Selvaggi assist, making the score 1-1.
In the 69th minute, Gochneaur struck again. His initial shot was saved by DePaul goalie Eric Sorby, but Gochneaur rebounded his own shot and scored the game winner.
"DePaul was quite a bit better than us in the first half," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "They applied a lot of pressure, but we got a great response from our guys and worked hard to find a way to score two goals. Gochneaur really gave us a boost in the first minute."
The Blue Demons held the advantage in most statistical categories, taking 21 shots compared to six for the Leathernecks, as well as 11 corners to just one for Western Illinois.
It was also a very physical game, with 42 total fouls being called, 20 on the Leathernecks. Ten yellow cards were handed out, six to Western and four to DePaul.
Sophomore Yves Dietrich earned his first win in goal, stopping four of the five shots he faced. Western Illinois also made three team saves in the contest.
"It wasn't a beautiful game today but our guys kept them in front," Johnson said. "It was a tough game and a good win."
The Leathernecks are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Valparaiso for a nonconference match at 1 p.m.
