Junior Elizabth McCracken sprints past her defender and towards the goal.
The Tigers slipped past the Bishops 14-13 upping their NCAC record to 2-3.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
In its third varsity season the Tigers are often seen as an underdog against opposing teams, but that was not the case in Tuesday’s match-up against the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops.
“We held our own and showed that it doesn't matter how old a program is—we are not a team to be underestimated,” junior Abigail Snively said.
The Tigers stepped on the field Tuesday evening determined to walk away with a victory against the Bishops. After losing the past three games DePauw University women’s lacrosse was not going to be disappointed again and fought hard to beat the Bishops, 14-13.
“Tuesday's game was really great for us,” junior Elizabeth McCracken said. “It is one of the closest games we have played and it good to see the team play under this much pressure.”
In the first few minutes of the game Snively put one goal away and junior Maryclaire Heldring followed quickly on an assist from first-year Emma Flynn to put the Tigers ahead. DePauw wasn’t in the lead for long though as the Bishops scored back-to-back. The teams went back and forth, back and forth until Flynn put the Tigers in the lead once more and sophomore Taylor Summers added a fifth goal.
The Tigers offense excelled as the team was in control when in possession of the ball.
“We did a good job settling the ball on attack and finding that open person to keep the lead,” senior Carey Kunz said.
Ohio Wesleyan, though, wasn’t going to let DePauw run away with things.
“[They] had good ball movement on their attack,” Kunz said. “They were constantly moving the ball around and keeping the defense on our toes.”
The Tigers were also challenged on draw controls, Kunz added, but they were able to gain control in order to help them to victory, totalling 13 out of 29.
At half-time the Tigers were in the lead at 7-5, but there were times during the second half when the Tigers were unsure if they would walk away with a win. Twice the Bishops tied the score, once at 8-8 with 21:32 remaining, and again at 12-12 with 4:54 left to play.
Flynn and Kunz put two more goals away to make a final of 14 shots fired and scored for the Tigers. In the last 46 seconds the Bishops had a moment to tie the match, but the Tigers defense and first-year goalie Liz Hawkins were not going to let that happen as Hawkins stopped the goal marking the Tiger’s victory.
Flynn led the Tigers with five goals while sophomore Nicole Gibson followed with two assists, Hawkins managed 16 saves and Snively picked up four groundballs.
The team faces Kenyon College in their last conference game of the season this Saturday at 11:45 a.m. at Reavis Stadium. The women are ready to show Kenyon what they are made of and hopefully come out with another win to close out the season.
“Our conference has been very uncharacteristic this season, and who is going to conference is still up in the air,” Snively said. “We have just the slightest chance to get there, but our chance is centered around the game Saturday. If we win we still have a fighting chance, so I think everyone is excited to see if we can keep our tournament hopes alive.”