Only eight minutes passed before sophomore Kelsey Cobbs, took her first shot, bouncing the ball off of her head into the back of the net behind Marian University’s goalie Madeline Weber.
A second and third goal for the DePauw Tigers came by sophomore Elizabeth Seewer, before half time was called.
Coming out strong in the second half, the women added to the score with a fourth and final goal by first-year Bridget Brendza. Marian rallied in the final 15 minutes sweeping two past DePauw’s goalie, senior Emma Cooper, making the final score of the game 4-2.
Stepping on the field 45 minutes before the first whistle blew, the women were ready to go after three intense days of training since their last game.
“Our warm up started out really well in the beginning,” Brendza said directly following the women’s win. “That’s what propelled us into having good first minutes in the first half and that play is what we needed to start out.”
The Tigers dominated the first half stringing together pass after pass and gaining the first touch against Marian throughout the duration of the game.
“Compared to the last couple of games our ability to pass the ball around and actually keep it was a whole lot better,” Cooper said. “That’s what ultimately led to our success tonight. Our first touches were better too.”
In the last three days of practice, the women made adjustments to their positions and worked on defining their roles as attackers. The intense training this past week was seen on the field last night said Head Coach Megan McCormick.
“We played well,” McCormick said. “Being able to put four in the back of the net and then having multiple chances on top of that is a great statistic to put on the hard work we’ve done in training and the things we have worked on to tweak the system tactfully to try to create more of those chances. Overall, comprehensively this was a good match for us.”
Towards the end of the second half DePauw began to fight harder when Marian rallied sending the ball back and forth among the two team’s offense. After 110 minutes of total play DePauw outshot Marian by only three shots at 16 shots on goal.
Marian’s first goal came on a free shot at the 74 minute mark and their final goal was scored after another foul on DePauw. Despite letting two goals in, Cooper made 11 saves.
Last night the DePauw Tigers walked off the field with something to be proud of. All scorers put statistics up on the board for the first time including sophomore Seewer who scored two of the four.
“It felt so good,” Seewer expressed drenched in sweat. “It was the first two of the season for me personally. It was a great feeling.”
The women will have one day to recuperate before they face Centre College Saturday at 7 p.m.
Looking forward to the game McCormick doesn’t see the team changing much to play Centre.
“(We’re) trying to maintain physical health and keeping players healthy,” McCormick said after the game. “We’ll try to do some technical stuff and clean up a few of the miss q’s from tonight, but it will be very similar tactfully and hopefully being able to jump on Centre early.”