The DePauw Tigers’ field hockey team finished its North Coast Athletic Conference game against Ohio Wesleyan University with a fifth consecutive victory in conference play. The Tigers defeated the Battling Bishops by a final score of 4-0.
Coming off Wednesday’s slow start against Earlham College the Tigers stepped foot on the field Saturday afternoon ready to dominate.
Senior goalkeeper Maggie Steele commented that despite the teams’ “disheartened” slow start against Earlham the women were able to act quickly to find the victory they are after in each game.
“I think it’s the strength of our team to be able to come out in the second half and make the necessary adjustments to maintain the shutout and secure a victory,” Steele said.
In Saturday’s matchup against Ohio Wesleyan the fans saw the Tigers strength from the first whistle. The women thrived, as they were able to work together with every member present on the field.
“We played as one unit, passing, moving to help each other and backing each other up,” first-year Reilly Bruce said. “Everyone worked really hard on and off the field so we could beat Ohio Wesleyan.”
The women took control immediately from the beginning, spending most of their time on Ohio Wesleyan’s defensive end. In the first half the Battling Bishops were unable to fire a single shot on Steele while the Tigers had their fair share of shots on Ohio Wesleyan’s goalkeeper, Jackie Feliciano, a first-year.
Going into the game the women’s focus was to spread the field and use back passes to the defenders to help diversify the play.
“We did a really good job at incorporating the defensive line into our offensive play,” sophomore Jamie Stoner said. “We really tired to pass back to our defense so they could switch the field and move the ball to the open space.”
Junior Grace Goodbarn scored the first goal on an assist from senior Maggie Campbell in the 14th minute of the game. Bruce then found the back of the cage on a rebound after Grace Fisher, senior, took a shot.
In the second half, the Tigers wasted no time in raising the score to 3-0 in the first minute as Campbell finished on first-year Paige Berliner’s shot. Bruce scored her second goal on a penalty corner late in the second half to put the game away.
As the Tigers are already halfway through their season, they are proud of what they have accomplished and look forward to perfecting their game in the remainder of the regular season.
“This week in practice we are going to continue to work on our game play and smaller parts of our game to be ready to play Wittenberg University on Saturday,” Bruce said. “Everyone works really hard in practice, as we try to practice hard like we play in our games. “
The team is also going to continue working towards creating open space and using each player on the field to help create the best play to score a goal, Stoner said.
DePauw will play host to Wittenberg University next Saturday evening at 6 p.m out at Reavis Stadium.