INDIANAPOLIS – Two first half goals followed by an unassisted score in the second half allowed Butler to defeat Eastern Michigan 3-0 on Monday night. The Bulldogs picked up a win in their home opener for a third-straight season.

"Coming off the game this past Friday, I felt like tonight was really important for our team in terms of reaffirming some of the confidence we have in our ability to score goals," Co-Head Coach Tari St. John stated post-game.

Paige Monaghan led the team to victory by scoring two of Butler's three goals in the contest, but the first goal of the night came off a beautiful shot from junior Serina Kashimoto. The ball was pushed through the middle of the field by forward Halle Stelbasky who found a streaking teammate in Randi DeLong. DeLong collected the ball and pushed it to the far right side where Kashimoto was waiting. Kashimoto briefly dribbled from the right side and fired a shot from 25 yards out that beat the keeper to the far side of the field making the game 1-0 in favor of the home team.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 2-0 with another goal, this time from freshman Paige Monaghan. The play started with a throw-in from fellow freshman Jamison Midgley. Midgley's placement on the toss found the foot of Laura Luther who found Monaghan straight-away for the header goal.

It was the first goal scored of the season for both Kashimoto and Monaghan. Kashimoto gave Butler the lead in the 24th minute and Monaghan doubled the score in the 41st minute.

While Butler enjoyed a two-goal lead at the half, the game could have unfolded a different way as Eastern Michigan had their best scoring opportunity of the opening 45 minutes fly off the left crossbar. Midfielder Chelsie Oddan chased down a loose ball and fired at the BU keeper, but Madison Card was in good position and the ball directed off the post keeping the score tied at 0-0. 

Second half chances were also available for the Eagles as Butler was forced into making a team save in the final 45 minutes. Momentum would never shift away from the home team however as the Bulldogs also stopped a second half penalty kick thanks to Card making a diving save.

"This really was a tight game for the first 25-30 minutes of the second half," St. John added. "For us to come out of here with a shutout was really important for the team as a whole, but especially important for all the freshmen that participated in the win tonight. The way the freshman stepped up was really good for this team. Outside of that 25-30 minute stretch where Eastern Michigan started to throw some numbers forward, I thought we played really well."

Monaghan's second goal of the season put the game out of reach as her rebound goal found the back of the net in the 89th minute of play. The freshman came up with a multi-goal game by blasting a shot off the EMU keeper and following up with a score off the rebound.

The Bulldogs won the shot category 13-6 while the corner kick battle was close at 4-3. Each team made four saves on the night, yet the shots on goal ended 7-4 for the Bulldogs.

The team will return to the Butler Bowl on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. start against the Milwaukee Panthers.