First-year Julian Gonzalez scored the winning goal with 3:14 left in the game to beat the Centre College Colonels 2-1 in season opener on Friday night.
"We won the ball and had a quick counter attack," Gonzalez, an Indianapolis native, said after the game. He thought the ball was played to him, but stayed back and let his teammate, first-year E.J. Moore accept the pass.
His quick decision led to an uncontested shot on goal.
"Right when I saw the ball coming, I just kept thinking, 'please let this go in, please let this go in,'" Gonzalez said.
DePauw's defense impressed in the season opener, lead by seniors Brandon Johnson and David Large.
Both men made multiple defensive stops in the first half to stifle the Colonels offense.
"The hardest part about keeping Centre at one goal over ninety minutes of play was defending their quick counter attack style of play," Large said. The defense particularly had problems holding off Centre player, junior Jeremy Carlson.
"He was a tall guy so guarding him against corner kicks and free kicks was a challenge," Large said.
"We played great defense," Gonzales added. "It was a good all around team effort, it wasn't just one individual out there"
The game was physical, with neither team struggling to get a on a roll offensively in the first half. However, the Tigers' offense began to flourish in the last twenty minutes of the match. Sophomore Adrian Ables scored the first goal of the game with nineteen minutes left, and Centre's Cameron Miller, a junior, evened the game four minutes later. This was followed by Gonzales' goal, which gave the Tigers a late lead that they would not lose.
Sophomores Jacob Trumbull and Connor Reed of Centre and sophomore Alieu Musa of DePauw all received yellow cards in the game.