Men's soccer still
searching for answers on offense
Head coach Brad Hauter called it a "new low," one that he's never seen as a head coach.
During regulation time, his team tallied just one shot - not on goal - and proceeded into its fifth overtime game of the season Saturday afternoon against Kenyon College (4-4-2, 0-0-1 NCAC) at Boswell field. After two overtime periods, the result was a 0-0 head-scratcher for Hauter and his players.
"I have to go back and look at the tape and process it to figure out how that happened," Hauter said. "I think they did some things defensively that we've seen five or six times this year. So having a difficult time solving it shouldn't have happened."
Throughout regulation time and extra minutes, the Tigers (6-1-3, 1-1-1 NCAC) attacked from the outside and sent crossing passes into the box. Many of those passes failed to hit the feet of teammates, and threats were ended by a strong back line of Kenyon defenders.
"Once you break (Kenyon's) front six, their back line drops back and shrinks," Hauter said. "They don't want you to play behind them. We have to go outside and go around them and we have the speed to do that. We kept trying to find the teeth and finding the space, but the numbers weren't there for us."
In overtime, sophomore Andy Morrison's defender fell down, and he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper from the right side. His shot, however, sailed well over the crossbar. One minute later, junior George Elliott weaved his way between two defenders on the left side and sent a cross into the box to sophomore Nate Snyder. Snyder's shot went wide of the left goal post.
The final act of offense from the Tigers came with 10 seconds left when Elliott attacked again from the left sideline and sent a cross into the box to Snyder. The ball fell at his feet, but he was unable to get off a strong shot.
Despite four overtime shots from DePauw, Kenyon held the edge in shots 7-5 and corner kicks 3-1.
This was the third time this season the Tigers were held scoreless. For a team that began the season with 10 goals in four games, just five goals were scored in the next six.
Senior midfielder Dean Weaver attributed Saturday's tie to Kenyon's skill on defense and failing to get the ball to teammates' feet.
"I don't think it's a setback, I think it's a reality check," Weaver said. "I think that our first five games, we won those straight, and we felt like we could come out and play the way we wanted to and win. It's a reality check for the past three weeks, in the end it's something we can correct ourselves on."
While the Tigers have just one loss on their record, Hauter said last week after a 1-0 win against Anderson University the team should be scoring more and be undefeated.
He wonders how many reality checks his players need to get over the scoring slump.
"We send it in, we got a breakaway and we don't convert," Hauter said. "There were about seven to eight breakdowns from key guys who lost the ball and played the wrong ball.
"These guys have all played high-level ball, and they've been in these situations. At some point, I may have to say 'yeah, this is growing pains.' We are very young. It may be that, but I'd hate to say it is."
DePauw needs to find answers before next weekend when it travels to conference-rival Ohio Wesleyan University (6-1-3, 0-0-1 NCAC) next Saturday.
"You look at what we're capable and it's hard to bet against this team," Hauter said. "I'm an optimist, and it'll take some time to get my feet back underneath me. But I still have faith in this team. We have really good guys. I believe they will rally off a few wins."
Women's soccer blanked for fifth time
For third time this season, the women's soccer team played in overtime. And for the fifth time this season, the Tigers were shutout by the opponent.
The Tigers (1-8-1, 1-1-1 NCAC) played to a 0-0 draw against Kenyon College (4-5-1, 0-1-1 NCAC) on Saturday afternoon at Boswell field. The Lords held the edge in shots 14-11 including a 10-7 advantage in shots-on-goal.
DePauw goalkeeper Caroline Kerr, a senior, notched 10 saves for her second shutout of the season. She now has 32 saves this year.
Senior Emily White led the Tigers' attack with four shots including three on-goal. Freshman Megann Lear tallied two and senior Lauren Leipprandt and sophomore Chloe Jacob also pitched in with one each.
The team next travels to Ohio Wesleyan University (3-6-2, 0-1 NCAC) on Saturday. Despite just one win on the season, DePauw sits in third place behind Denison and Wittenberg Universities in the NCAC standings.