It took a little bit of time, but once the DePauw field hockey team found the back of the goal, the points poured in.
In the 11th minute, senior Margaret Ellis launched an elevated shot just inside the scoring circle and found the goal just off to the right of the Earlham College goalkeeper. One minute later, Ellis connected again when she curved around the right side and launched a low shot for the second goal of the game.
In the end, Ellis tallied a hat trick - so did fellow forward Bridgette Shamleffer. The senior scored three times in the second half after a 4-0 halftime lead. Ellis and Shamleffer combined for six of the Tiger's nine goals for the 9-0 victory.
"We are really successful when we have stick-to-stick passing," sophomore Paige Henry said. "When we do things together instead of working individually, that's what's really working for us."
It was passing that allowed the DePauw forwards to find open players in a malleable Earlham defense. The Tigers (6-1, 4-0 NCAC) outshot Earlham (0-6, 0-5 NCAC) 14-0 in the first half, and 9-0 in the second as the home-team defense didn't allow one shot the entire game.
This is the second home effort of the year where DePauw didn't allow one shot on goal - the first being against Wittenberg on Sept. 5.
"The defense did a nice job of making sure we were able to maintain possession on our offensive end," head coach Gina Wills said. "Forwards are playing scrappy inside the circle, and the looks we were getting inside came from being in good goal-scoring positions inside the circle."
However, spacing was not always on par in Thursday's game. During the first half, Wills implored her team from the sideline to spread out and allow the midfielders to find the open players.
"Sometimes when we go to help, we try and run to it instead of looking to go around," Wills said. "It was good because we were looking to attack and go forward on offense, but there are times we can spread out more and spread the defense out. When we do that we had more open looks in the scoring circle."
When the ball does get to the scoring circle, it always has a chance of going into the goal. Henry and junior Chelsea Cutler also connected for DePauw in support of Henry and Ellis.
"It's just fun working with other people who are so aggressive and are ready to score," Henry said. "No one is really selfish up front, and we work really well together. As long as it gets in the back of the net, it's a win."
The Tigers next travel to Denison University on Saturday. Last season, Denison defeated DePauw in the NCAC final to capture the automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III tournament.
"This is a game the girls are definitely excited about," Wills said. "Every game is important especially in the conference schedule. We started off strong this season and have confidence in that. Our offense is clicking, and our defense is stepping up and playing well."