A late six goal charge by DePauw University's men's lacrosse team was not enough to overcome the early dominance of the College of Wooster Fighting Scots Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium in Wooster, Ohio.
The Fighting Scots came ready to play right out of the gates, scoring within the first minute. Wooster followed that with 11 unanswered goals in the first half.
Wooster's lead extended to 16-0 before DePauw attack man, first-year Richard McGowan put the Tigers on the board with 7:59 left to play in the third.
First-year Sam Caravana follwed McGowan's goal with a tally of his own just 22 seconds later.
Robert Lapp, another first-year, contributed to the late rally, scoring on an assist from McGowan with 5:54 left in the fourth quarter.
Caravana followed with his second unassisted goal with 1:21 remaining. The Tigers battled until the final two seconds, when first-year Adam Bridges scored on an assist from first-year Charlie Yorke that did little except pad some statistics.
First-year midfielder Sam Alkema noted some half-time changes made to the offense that help explain the Tigers' success in the second half.
"We came out flat in the first half, so we adjusted our offensive systems and had some guys playing in different positions in the second half," Alkema said. "There were definitely some good things to take away from the game."
With the 16-6 defeat, the Tigers dropped to 3-8 on the season, while the Fighting Scots improved to 8-3 on the season. However, the teams are tied in North Coast Athletic Conference play at 1-2.
Although the Tigers have lost their last four games, first-year defenseman A.J. Schlaff is confident that persistent hard work will be the key to ending the streak.
"Going forward, the most important thing is for us to play our style of lacrosse and keep the pedal down for all four quarters," Schlaff said.
The Tigers hope to carry the momentum from their late rally on Saturday afternoon tomorrow when the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University travel to Blackstock Stadium for a 4 p.m. face-off.
The Battling Bishops boast an impressive 8-2 overall record and sit on top of the NCAC standings at 3-0 in conference play.
First-year, long-stick midfielder Eric Speer is excited about the challenge the Bishops present, despite the quick turnaround from Saturday.
"We have a short time to prepare for one of the toughest teams in our conference," Speer said. "We need to focus on getting better on offense and continue to work on our team defense. It should be a big test for our young team."
The youthful Tigers have their work cut out for them as they press on through their tough conference schedule.