With a 3-0 shutout against the Principia College Panthers on Saturday afternoon, the DePauw men's soccer team extended its perfect start to the season and improved to 7-0 record.
Junior forward Andy Morrison got the Tigers going with a goal 36 minutes into the games. Morrison feasted on the goalkeeper, unable to control a rebound for his second straight game.
The Tigers took the 1-0 lead into halftime and quickly extended their lead in the second half. At 56 minutes, the Tigers got a key insurance goal from first-year Zach Hoffman. Hoffman received the assist from sophomore Adrian Ables. Just two minutes later, Morrison drove home his second goal of the game to ensure a Tiger victory.
The defense was stellar once again, keeping Tiger goalkeeper Jacob Pezzuto's shutout streak alive in the process. Junior Pezzuto has not given up a goal since the season opener against Centre College. In fact, with the defense is such control, Coach Brad Hauter felt comfortable enough to let sophomore Chris Yount come in to relieve Pezzuto in the goal for the last 11 minutes of the game.
Senior defender Brandon Johnson summed up the performance of the defensive unit.
"Defensively we played really well," said Johnson. "They never really had that many chances and if anything, it was from really far out."
Coach Hauter recognizes the focus on campus surrounding his defense's red-hot start. Nonetheless, Hauter and his staff are forcing the players to take it one step at a time.
"Our defense has been very strong and done an amazing job," Hauter said. "The challenge now is to make sure we don't lose our focus and that we do the little things a bit better every day."
DePauw will open NCAC conference play this Saturday against Hiram College at Boswell Field. The beginning of their conference schedule will bring about some major changes to the style of play for the Tigers.
"A lot of the teams we play before conference often aren't as skilled as us," Johnson said. "They stay at the back more and focus on defense."
Hauter is preparing for different types of match-ups now too.
"Now that we are entering conference play, the games will be more wide open as there are points attached to each game and both teams will fight for them," Hauter said. "This actually should play well into our team speed and depth. We are really looking forward to a more open game."
Despite the added pressure of playing conference games now, Johnson is still confident in the tam.
"Nothing changes all that much for us," Johnson said. "The goal is still the same: get into the conference tournament."
Hiram is not one of the top teams in the NCAC conference. The Terriers are 2-5-1 on the season and have not won on the road yet, compiling a record of 0-4-1 for away games. This does not mean the Tigers do not have a strong plan.
"Our game plan is going to be to manipulate their back zone and attack the seams in it," Hauter said. "Defensively we hope to reduce their touches in our back third and eliminate their shots."
Hiram will have a reason to be pumped about their trip to Greencastle, however, as a rivalry stands between the Terriers and the Tigers.
"Hiram is going to be a tough one because there is a lot of emotion in the game as we've knocked them out of the tournament the last two years and they were our only conference loss last year," Hauter said.
The previous meeting of these two teams was last November in the NCAC Men's Soccer Semifinal. Hiram took a 2-1 lead into halftime, but DePauw made a second half comeback. Two goals in the span of a minute by junior Nate Snyder and Morrison was all DePauw needed to earn a 3-2 victory and end the Terriers' tournament hopes.
The Tigers will be battling more than one foe when they take the field on Saturday. With an unbeaten record comes all of the excitement and attention on campus. Both players and coaches have been trying to avoid the hype.
Hauter and the rest of the coaching staff focuses on the entire season as a whole.
"7-0 means only one thing, we are guaranteed to be 7-11 until we change it. Honestly it means little else," Hauter said. "We are proud of the start but are focused on bigger things."
The Tigers will put their undefeated record on the line at Boswell Field for a pair of games this weekend. On Saturday the Tigers will take on Hiram and will come right back Sunday afternoon to face Olivet College.