The DePauw Men's soccer team has its season opener today at 2 p.m. at home against Hope College at Boswell Field. The Tigers are also in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. against Monmouth University from Boswell Field.
DePauw is coming off a conference championship and looks to keep the momentum going from last season. Head coach Brad Hauter is excited to start the season against Hope, who was eliminated in the NCAA Div. III quarterfinals after falling to DePauw's NCAC rival, Ohio Wesleyan University.
"It will be a great test for us right out of the gate," Hauter said. "I think we will see two very different opponents this weekend. Monmouth lost their head coach so they have a new coach coming in. The style will be different than the Monmouth from last year, while Friday will just be a war."
Sophomore forward Andy Morrison is one of the leaders on the Tigers offense this year. He was second in scoring last season with 10 goals, only behind All-American Sam Meyer '12.
"It has been a long camp, and we realize that these are two big games to open the season," Morrison said. "We are looking forward to these games, and are ready to go."
Fifth-year Andrew Desmarais returns to the pitch after missing his senior season due to an ACL injury. Morrison thinks he has brought a lot to the team already this season.
"With the addition of Andrew Desmarias coming back this year we have seen some great leadership," he said. "The leadership Andrew has brought to our team is unbelievable. I think we're ready to go."
The leadership factor could set this team apart this season.
"We're a program that is trying to make that leap from being a very good program to being a consistently great and elite program," Hauter said. "It takes a special kinds of players to do that, and I think we have the guys."
You can hear both of those games live broadcasted on WGRE 91.5.