On Wednesday Sept. 25, the DePauw Men's Soccer team traveled to Holland, Michigan, for a match against #9 ranked Hope College. This was a massive game for the Tigers as they looked to build some confidence going into their conference schedule. The Tigers came into this match after a 2-1 win over Capital on Saturday Sept. 2, looking to improve on the change that they have made over the recent weeks. Hope entered this game with a record of 7-1, looking to build on what has been a very impressive season so far.
“There was a pretty big home crowd, which made the atmosphere of the match great. It made it even better when we came out of the gates with a strong start to the match,” Ethan Webster ‘25 said.
It did not take long for the Tigers to get out to a lead, as Braden Murphey ‘27 put the Tigers on the board in the 17th minute. An incredible goal from outside the box that came from a clearance of a Hope freekick put the Tigers in the lead. Murphey’s goal came from nowhere, as he controlled a cleared ball and made something out of nothing, beating both Hope center backs and rocketing a shot into the bottom left corner. The Tigers continued to play a strong first half until about the 33rd-minute mark, when Hope scored 2 quick goals to take a 2-to-1 lead into half-time. DePauw did not seem to be phased by the way the first half ended as they came out strong.
“We had a great response after half-time, we took control of the game again and dominated the second half,” Webster ‘25 said.
The game stayed at the score of 2-1, with Hope in the lead, until the 81st minute despite DePauw creating many good chances to level the game up. In the 81st minute, DePauw evened up the match again after a player was taken down inside the Hope penalty box and received a penalty kick. AJ Hockstock ‘27 delivered the kick into the top right corner to tie the game up at 2. The score remained the same, and the Tigers left Hope with an effort worth being proud of. The match statistics were relatively even. DePauw won the corner kick battle by a margin of 4-to 2, with Hope putting 8 shots on goal, forcing Tigers goalie Sam Ortner '27 to make 6 saves. The Tigers put 5 shots on goal from open play forcing Flying Dutch’s goalie Daniel Hesselbein to make 4 saves.
The Tigers played again on Saturday, Sept. 28, hosting Kalamazoo at Reavis field. The Tigers won rather easily by a score of 2-0. While they controlled most of the game, DePauw was not able to find the scoreboard until the 53rd minute when a cross was deflected in by a Kalamazoo defender. Just minutes later AJ Hockstock ‘27 found the back of the net from a very impressive free kick to put the Tigers up by two goals. The Tigers controlled the rest of the game and came away with a 2-0 win. The Tigers have continued to make improvements and now have a very impressive record of 5-2-2.