Starting off the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), the DePauw field hockey team took on the Ohio Wesleyan Bishops at home, Tuesday, October 5. The Tigers (2-7) fell in a hard-fought match to the Battling Bishops (5-2) with a final score of 0-3. Head coach of the Tigers, Lauren Thomas, said of the loss, “I try to keep the team focused and motivated after tough team losses like we had yesterday by reminding them with results like yesterday, we have room for improvement, but despite the score, there were things we were able to do really well.”
The Bishops came out strong on offense with a quick goal in the first but the Tigers kept the scoring down through the half, keeping the Bishops to only one goal. Senior forward and midfielder Sarah Goff said, “OWU came out strong, and while they may have won, I don’t think the score was indicative of how hard we worked individually and as a team.”
The Tigers responded in the second quarter with many shots on goal and kept the ball on the Bishops’ side of the field, but could not complete the attacks. Thomas sees areas in which the team can improve. “The biggest areas we will be focusing on as we continue into conference play for the remainder of our season will be communication, playing as a unit in all aspects across the field and working to support and execute on our scoring opportunities,” she said.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot DePauw 11-8, scoring again in the third quarter and the last 30 seconds of the game.
The Tigers move to 0-1 record in the NCAC, but there is no lack of confidence from senior leaders. “We have a lot of talent and experience in our veterans, but welcoming 11 newcomers has been a great addition,'' senior defender Christina Bourantas said. “We have a lot of love and passion for the sport and the team, which in turn helps us to play together.”
The Tiger’s morale remains high going into the rest of conference play, “We can’t change the past, we can only continue to work hard each day at practice and play with the mindset that eventually all of our hard work will pay off,” Goff said. The Tigers will go on the road to take on their next conference match at Oberlin on Saturday, October 9.