Players pile on top of sophomore Ben Sherman whose over-time goal clinched the program's first ever win of the Yeoman. The tigers won 9-8. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUW UNIVERSITY
The men's lacrosse team closed out their season in dramatic fashion over the weekend when they defeated NCAC opponent Oberlin by a score of 9-8 in a sudden death overtime battle.
Even though the game came down to one goal, team members stressed that this win was not the result of one individual’s effort.
“We played a great team game,” said first-year midfielder Ben Otis. “It’s one of the few games that we really came together as a team, and it really played in our favor.”
The first half started out well for the Tigers, as goals from junior midefielder Nick Woerner, freshman attackman Buck Dorger and Otis propelled them to a 3-1 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Oberlin took control at that point, however, and they scored five unanswered goals in those final 12 minutes of the half.
Dorger believes those goals were scored because the Tigers were out of sync.
“I think we just lost possession of the ball for the most part,” he said. “We didn’t really have the ball on offense too much, and the defense was struggling to communicate.”
With Oberlin’s surge of offensive attack, they held onto a firm 6-3 lead heading into the half.
The second half did not start off extremely positive for the Tigers, either, as the Yeomen buried another goal just under three minutes into the third quarter. However, from that point moving forward, there was a momentum shift in DePauw’s favor. With the help of freshman attackman Matthew Dauw, sophomore midfielder Ben Sherman and Dorger, the Tigers posted three unanswered goals to bring it back to a one goal game.
Otis said that what drove the second half comeback was the knowledge of what was at stake.
“Even though we weren’t really in playoff contention or anything, it was our first year that we actually had a chance to finish 3-5 in the NCAC, which puts us past Oberlin in the NCAC on the middle tier, so that was what our drive was heading into the second half,” Otis said.
Trailing 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter, the Tigers needed a few more solid offensive possessions to bring the game back. Their prayers were answered when they tied the game up at seven with a goal from freshman attackman Steen Jorgensen barely ten seconds into the quarter.
The remainder of the game was a grueling match, with the Tigers constantly fighting to stay in it.
Oberlin’s goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the game left the Tigers scrambling, but a goal from junior midfielder Sam Alkema with less than three minutes remaining kept their season alive.
After Alkema's goal, the game could not be settled in regulation, so the teams moved into overtime.
As the clock wound down to just over two minutes remaining in the overtime period, The Tigers proved themselves victorious in with a goal from Sherman.
The overwhelming reaction coming from the Tigers’ bench was elation.
“Everyone was very excited,” Dorger said. “It was great to end the season on such a high note.”
With the goal, the Tigers concluded their season with a 3-5 finish in their NCAC games, which is the best record they’ve had since the program was introduced in 2013.
Jorgensen is optimistic that the program will continue to improve despite the mixed results they saw this year.
“There was a lot of ups and downs," he said, "but even with those ups and downs, the program improved as a whole, and we'll be looking forward to a bright future from the DePauw lacrosse program."