For a team whose primary offense is two sophomores and a freshman, defensively-strong teams are giving DePauw's young players tough challenges up front.
The men's soccer team (4-0-1) remains undefeated, as it pulled out a dramatic overtime victory against Earlham College Saturday 1-0. DePauw then tied the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Sunday, 0-0.
However, the team's one goal and subsequent tie were both hard-fought on offense.
The Tigers went into overtime Saturday and sophomore Andy Morrison, who leads the team in scoring with three, put away his second game winner of the season off of junior Matt Reda's assist. Head coach Brad Hauter said the team had to deal with quite a bit of adversity Saturday, but managed it.
"There were some really odd challenges the guys faced," Hauter said. "Earlham was much improved from last year, the storm from the night before made the footing on the field really difficult, and it was 10 yards shorter and 10 yards more narrow than we're used to. It allowed them to neutralize our speed up top."
The Tigers played an Earlham team that played excellent defense, and it was tough for the Tigers to find the net.
"I thought we were a better team and could have won before overtime," said sophomore defender Kevin Tolley. "It was unfortunate we couldn't get a goal earlier because they packed most of their players in the defensive third of the field. But we prevailed in overtime because we were able to put the extra work in, and Earlham was unable to keep up."
On Sunday, the Tigers played against defensively-minded Rose-Hulman and couldn't find the back of the net again.
"It was pretty disappointing to settle for a tie because we thought we were the better team," Tolley said. "They played a very defensive game ,and it was hard to put away a goal."
The Tigers dominated offensively throughout the match but couldn't find the score sheet.
"Rose-Hulman sat in with eight players always behind the ball and only one real high player up top they could counter to," Hauter said. "The low pressure of them just defending was tough for us to get in our groove, but we outshot them 8-1 in the first half, but their keeper was red hot."
The Tigers are now five games into the season and have only given up two goals, one of which was an own goal. With a strong defensive line the Tigers open conference play on Saturday when the team faces off against Denison University.
"We are only at 70 or 75 percent of what we are capable of," Hauter said. "We are too far off of our players, they get too many touches, and they get too many opportunities. When we really get into a defensive rhythm, it'll be impressive."
The Tigers return home Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Hanover College in their final test before NCAC play Saturday against Denison University.