The women's lacrosse team fell by a score of 9-6 when they faced Wooster at home on Saturday. The Tigers were not outplayed, but their efforts just weren’t able to pull off the conference victory.
“I thought we played really well,” said junior attack Nicole Gibson. “We played well in the first half and, unfortunately in the second half, we had a lot of shots that just weren’t going in.”
The Tigers came into this weekend hoisting a three-game win streak that they were looking to build upon heading into the final games of the season. Unfortunately, with the loss, the Tigers’ chances of getting back to .500 for the season are officially gone, as they stand with a record of 5-9 with only two games remaining in the season.
The game started off strong for DePauw, as the Tigers struck first with a goal from junior attack Taylor Summers. Back and forth goals would ensue from that point on. Wooster scored before junior midfielder Emilye Denny responded with a goal, only to be answered once more by Wooster. The Tigers caught fire in latter part of the first half, as they tallied three straight goals from Gibson, senior attack Elizabeth McCracken and sophomore attack Emma Flynn.
The Tigers were not able to hold that 5-2 lead for the duration of the half, though, as Wooster tallied two more goals before the end of the half to bring it back to a one goal game. Leading Wooster 5-4, the Tigers needed a strong second half to ensure a victory.
This seemed to be the turning point for Wooster; they were able to keep up with the strong play through the second half. Although they let up those late goals in the first, Gibson doesn’t believe it all has to do with the Tiger defense.
“I think our defense still played well,” she said. “It was just one of those games where a couple situations turned the game around for them.”
Wooster opened up the second half by scoring the tying goal, as well as the go-ahead goal. Flynn responded to tie the game at six, but that would be the last goal for the Tigers. The last 15 minutes of the game belonged entirely to Wooster, as they piled on three more goals to cap off a 9-6 victory.
The loss was disheartening for the Tigers, but they have fallen victim to collapses like these before, and Summers believes it's because the Tigers let the other team get into their heads.
“We get really mental as a team sometimes, and I think that has been our biggest struggle this season," Summers said. "So when we saw the win slipping through our fingers as Wooster scored those three goals, it made it really hard to mentally come back from that."
Now that the Tigers have entered the final stretch, the team wants to focus on what they have done well this year.
“I think that just taking the little things we have been able to accomplish this season and being happy with what we’ve been able to do is a really great way to go into our final games of the year,” Summers said.
The Tigers' next chance to avenge this loss will be Wednesday when they face Denison at home in an NCAC Conference battle. The opening faceoff will be at 5:30 p.m.