After a 3-0 loss at home to the University of Chicago on Thursday, the Tigers were determined to reproduce the excellent play of the last 20 minutes of that game. Those 20 minutes featured a new offense flowing well and creating chances.
Against Hiram College on Saturday, DePauw (4-4, 2-0 NCAC) won 3-1 with its new 4-3-3 formation for its second victory in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Tigers fell behind early in the match, when Sarah Condon put Hiram up 1-0 less than six minutes into the game. But that was the only score the Hiram Terriers would see all day.
The Tigers came out strong in the second half. Seven minutes in, sophomore Angela Cotherman tieing the game at one, scoring the first of her two goals in the match. Alex Ehr rounded out the scoring in the 84th minute to put the Tigers up 3-1, with just six minutes left to play.
Head coach John Carter was happy with the team's performance and the results.
"We gave up one shot in the first half," Carter said. "But we battled uphill in the second half to get the results we wanted. We dominated the match, and we just weren't lucky enough to score in the first half."
The Tigers out-shot the Terriers 24-3 in the game. They also held the edge in corners at 8-0. Going into the second half, Carter said the team knew what it had to do.
"We had to just keep playing, we were dominating the possession and opportunities in the first half," Carter said. "We need to just keep playing the way we were. We knew we had 45 minutes to score so we don't need to stress about it right away. We wanted to just let it happen in the run of play, and be sure to stay clean defensively."
According to Cotherman, the new offensive formation is creating more chances for the team as crosses come in from the wings and can be received by two players, not just one. Also, defenders are pressing up more to intercept clearances from the opponent's defense, allowing the ball to remain in that half and the Tigers to hold possession.
"It's a lot more high-pressure because there are more numbers in the box for crosses to fall to players," Cotherman said. "Now we are getting the hang of it and capitalizing on it."
The Tigers sit at 4-4 for the season with a conference leading 2-0 record. The team is back in action tonight at Earlham College at 4:30 p.m. Its next conference game match is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Kenyon College.