By no means was it pretty, but the Tigers (7-4, 2-1) got the win they needed, defeating North Coast Athletic Conference rival The College of Wooster (3-6-1, 0-2) by a score of 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Scheduled inbetween games with second ranked Kenyon College and NCAC juggernaut Ohio Wesleyan University, Saturday’s matchup was the definition of a trap game for the Tigers.
“You are correct it was a trap game and I thought we handled the week well,” DePauw head coach Brad Hauter said. “I did not hear the words Kenyon or OWU once. The training was at a high level all week.”
While he may have been pleased with the training, Hauter wasn’t too happy with the quality of play from his guys.
“I was not pleased with the effort,” Hauter said. “I thought we were distracted and were not committed to focusing on the details of the match.”
The quality of the competition the Tigers faced made it easy to overcome, however.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the fifth minute on a penalty kick from junior Adrian Ables after sophomore Julian Gonzalez was fouled inside the box.
It was only fitting that on the day the stadium was dedicated with his last name, that junior Mitch Reavis would score the second goal of the game for the Tigers 20 minutes after the Ables goal.
“Mitch scoring and getting an assist in that match and the way he scored could not have been scripted,” Hauter said. “That came from a higher power, probably Dr. Casey.”
“Any goal is a big deal,” Reavis said. “Scoring one when a lot of my family was there made it that much better. I’m happy that the team put together another solid effort to stay undefeated in our new home.”
The Tigers and Fighting Scots would exchange goals at the end of the half, going into recess with the score at 3-1. Gonzalez recorded the goal for DePauw.
When play resumed, Gonzalez took over. He scored just two minutes into the second half and then added an insurance marker in the 72nd minute to put the game away and earn the hat trick. The Fighting Scots added a goal late in the half to make the final score 5-2.
“Julian had a great day,” Hauter said. “He is reading the game at a very high level and adjusting well. He is a special special player that is heating up at the right time.”
“Overall, it feels great to score three goals but it was a good team win and we need to keep this form in order to have a successful season,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez has burst onto the scene this year while senior forward Andy Morrison has been severely limited due to a nagging hamstring injury. Gonzalez leads the team with eight goals and 18 points in the 10 games he has appeared in.
“I knew that with Andy resting his hamstring, the forwards had to pick up the workload and create chances,” Gonzalez said. “It has been tough with andy not being 100% so i knew that I was going to have to work more in the game to help move the ball.”
The Tigers could be getting Morrison back at the perfect time, however. He appears ready to go for DePauw’s crucial NCAC matchup with rival Ohio Wesleyan next Saturday.
“Andy is good to go,” Hauter said about Morrison, who played only about 20 minutes on Saturday. “He is probably 90 percent back. He is a warrior and always brings it for this team. Giving him a little rest to recover and get healthy will have him clicking at the time we need him most.”
Two losses to the Battling Bishops in 2013 cost the Tigers a chance at a conference title and a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament at the end of the season.
A 3-1 loss at the hands of the Bishops handed the Tigers their first loss of the season in mid October and then OWU got the best of DePauw again in the semifinals of the NCAC tournament on penalty kicks, a loss that officially ended the Tigers' season.
The Tigers and Battling Bishops will meet for the first time since then on Saturday evening in Delaware, Ohio with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.