NCAC postseason dashed in tie for fourth despite two-straight wins at home

613

The women's soccer team ended its season Saturday with a win over Oberlin College but failed to qualify for North Coast Athletic Conference postseason play after finishing in a three-way tie for fourth place. 

With the win on Saturday, the Tigers improved to 6-10-1, 4-3-1 in the NCAC. The team came out in its final home game of the regular season knowing it could be its last of the 2011 season. The women needed a victory to keep their chances for a postseason berth in the NCAC tournament alive.

The Tigers held possession on Saturday and won with style. Junior Dana Sprague opened up the scoring in the 19th minute. Senior Alex Ehr made it 2-0 later in the first half, while sophomore Holly Tipp rounded out the scoring in the 38th minute. The Tigers shut out Oberlin College, winning the game with a final score of 3-0.  

"It was a little bit rough in the beginning, but after a little bit of time we got the hang of it and got into our groove and possessed the ball well," Sprague said. "We definitely had better ball skills and possession throughout the game." 

Head coach John Carter was pleased with the results of Saturday's game despite not making the NCAC postseason.  

"We had to win to have an opportunity in the tournament and that's what we did," Carter said. "We came out strong and scored three goals in the first half. The seniors got to win their last two games at Boswell Field, and we didn't know if we would get into the tournament or not but it was a good way to end their four years here at DePauw." 

The women eventually came up short in the standings as early season losses came back to haunt them.  

"It is really frustrating. I feel as though our team is a lot better than our record shows," Sprague said. "We lost a few games early in the season that we should have won. Those games put us behind in conference standings and eventually came back to hurt us." 

The Tigers rounded out their season with two victories at home.

Carter said he was very pleased with the women's effort through the whole season.

The team will not take the field until next fall, but the players are already looking forward to the upcoming off-season in hopes of improvement next year. Despite the difficulties faced by the team, Carter thinks this was a memorable season.

"We moved forward throughout struggles and stayed positive," Carter said. "We got better throughout the season each and every game. We had some disappointments and mistakes that cost us but we moved on. We played soccer at a top-25 level. We just couldn't get the results."