Chicago State Women's Soccer Open 2025 Season at DePaul

CHICAGO, Ill. - It was the season opener for the Chicago State women's soccer team on Thursday as they traveled up to north Chicago to take on DePaul University. Chicago State showed tremendous effort, resilience and fought hard to the very end. The Cougars scored two goals on the evening as DePaul claimed a 6-2 victory.

The Cougars had to climb over an early obstacle after conceding an early goal. The early equalizer came 15 minutes into the game after a penalty by DePaul gave Chicago State a penalty kick. Gabby Flores capitalized on the opportunity by scoring her first career goal. The sophomore midfielder went upper right corner to tie the game 1-1. Two goal by the Blue Demons gave them a 3-1 lead.

Six minutes into the second half, a DePaul  the Chicago State once again had a penalty kick opportunity. Flores once again scored on her second penalty kick on the night to give her two goals on the night to bring the score to 5-2. Sophomore forward Maya Dixon led the team in shot attempts with three. Senior Veronika Avila logged 90 minutes of game time played. True freshman goalkeeper Aviana Gutierrez made six saves in her first career start. 

In his first game, head coach Kevin Larry was pleased with how the Cougars continue to play hard to the very end.  

"There was definitely some first game jitters, but the ladies settled in and some competitive spirit and played hard to get back into the game early. The most with encouraging thing is we were able to find the back of the net two times. We will continue to get better and get ready for Sunday afternoon." 

Coach Larry also reflected on his first game at Chicago State.

"In my first game, it was very exciting to be representing Chicago State. To be able to open the season against a good DePaul team was good for our team and even though the result was not what we wanted, our players are doing the right things to only get better. Once we get a few games under our feet, it will be an exciting time to see them improve as the season rolls forward."

The Chicago State women's soccer team will be back in action on Sunday August 17 as they host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville from Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 PM (CT).