The Tigers put their undefeated record on the line against Earlham College at Boswell Field on Saturday.
From the beginning, the Tigers were in control of the game. However, it wasn't until the second half that DePauw was finally able to break through.
Early into the second half, Adrian Ables got a pass from George Elliot and put the ball in the back of the net to give the Tigers the lead that they would not relinquish.
The Tigers held on to that slim lead until the 84th minute when Mitch Tabler took a cross from Andy Morrison and got it past the keeper to give the Tigers a much needed insurance goal. This would be the last goal of the game, as the men went on to defeat Earlham 2-0.
"We were putting a lot of chances on goal and our defense was just really shutting them down," Ables, senior, said. "We were in complete control of that game from the beginning."
Earlham was never able to get anything going offensively. DePauw goalkeeper Jacob Pezzuto was only called upon to make four saves.Earlham's goalie, Sam Embry, was challenged quite a bit by DePauw. The Tigers put thirteen shots on net but were only able to get two past Embry.
The Tigers returned to Boswell on Sunday afternoon to face off with Rose-Hulman Institue of Technology. This game had a much different feel to it than the game the previous day. Without Elliot in the starting lineup due to an injury suffered in the Earlham game, and Ables coming out early with a shoulder issue, the Tigers needed to rely on their depth to move to 5-0.
"Every time we play without George, it could become a really rough situation. The depth with this team this year is absolutely incredible," senior Matt Reda said.
The Tigers were able to get on the board early, with a goal in the sixth minute. However, DePauw was unable to capitalize on the momentum and the game remained very much up in the air.
The aggressive pace of the game caught Ables off guard.
"We weren't expecting the game today to be so physical. They started hitting hard, pulling on shirts, and going to a lot of hard tackles."
The Tigers went into halftime still holding onto their 1-0 advantage. When play resumed in the second half, the physical style continued.
"It became a battle of just banging bodies. It really turned into more of a physical match than a finesse match," Ables said.
As the game went on, the tough pace became too much for Rose-Hulman to handle and they tired.
About midway through the second half, Julian Gonzalez capitalized on this exhaustion, when he tallied an insurance marker to give DePauw a 2-0 advantage.
The Tigers would hold on to that lead and improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2010. The men look to make it six in a row when they head to Hanover College to play the Panthers Wednesday.