A defender trails behind junior midfielder Nick Woerner moments before scoring. Woerner racked up two goals in DePauw’s 13-3 victory over Kalamazoo College on Saturday. SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
Following the season opener loss last weekend, the DePauw men’s lacrosse team picked up their first victory of the season on Saturday in a 13-3 whooping of Kalamazoo.
The first quarter was fairly uneventful as neither team was able to get anything going within the first 10 minutes. DePauw opened up the scoring with a goal from freshman attackman Drew Monroe at the 5:33 minute mark. The Tigers were able to bury one more before the end of the quarter with a goal from junior midfielder Sam Alkema at the 2:48 minute mark.
Kalamazoo opened up the second quarter strong with a goal in the ninth minute to shrink the deficit to just one goal. But DePauw refused to let up.
DePauw furthered its slim lead when junior midfielder Nick Woerner put one away with five minutes remaining. The first half closed with the Tigers leading 3-1.
The second half of the game was where the Tigers proved themselves superior over Kalamazoo.
“We played a little sloppy in the first half but really brought the heat in the second half, especially towards the end of the game,” sophomore defenseman Jack Gomez said.
The third quarter did not look promising when DePauw let up a goal within the first two minutes. This goal served as a wake up call for the Tigers, though, as they followed by stringing together three unanswered goals from Woerner, freshman attackman Matthew Dauw and freshman attackman Lewis Andrews. Kalamazoo scored once again at the end of the third, but the Tigers headed into the fourth quarter with a commanding 6-3 lead.
The fourth quarter saw the best of the Tigers’ offensive execution. Their defense triumphed as well, as they did not allow a goal to Kalamazoo through the entire quarter. The Tigers capped off the game on a 7-0 run, offensively dominating Kalamazoo with a relentless attack that brought the game home. The Tigers finished with a 13-3 victory.
Both Dauw and Woerner led the team with two goals and two assists each.
Although the game was not free of mistakes, Andrews made it clear that there are no major things that need to change.
“We really just need to focus on our fundamentals and take care of the ball more to prevent turnovers,” he said.
Gomez added that improvement will come with time for this young squad.
“The more we play, the more our young team will get acclimated to playing at the college level,” he said.
This victory has generated momentum for the Tigers going forward, which they will look to carry into their next game at Cornell College on March 5.
DePauw defeated Cornell 13-0 in their only regular season meeting last year, so they have high expectations for Saturday.
The opening faceoff will be at 1 p.m. and there will be a live video feed on the DePauw Athletics webpage.