The men's soccer team improved to 10-0 for the season, with home wins against Hiram College and Olivet College this weekend and a win on the road against Anderson University on Wednesday evening.
On Saturday afternoon at Boswell Field, the Tigers battled through a scoreless first half against Hiram. Just five and a half minutes into the second half, sophomore forward Adrian Ables gave DePauw a lead when he put a shot in the back of the net, which gave the Tigers a 1-0.
However, in the 70th minute, Hiram tied the game up with a goal by Rufin Sime. The momentum would not last for them though, as only five minutes later Zaire Morrison was issued a costly red card, forcing the Terriers to play the rest of the game one man short.
Hiram was able to limp the game into overtime, when DePauw asserted their dominance early with sophomore Alieu Musa scoring just 53 seconds in,giving the Tigers the win.
Despite going to overtime for the first time this season, the Tigers were still confident.
"It felt very calm before overtime began and clearly we just needed that brief moment to re-focus," said head coach Brad Hauter.
The players had the same feeling as well.
"We had been dominating for the better part of that game, and we just knew it was coming," said junior forward Andy Morrison. "We said right before overtime that we were going to get this over quickly."
The 2-1 win improved the Tigers to 8-0, but it did mean the end of junior goalkeeper Jacob Pezzuto's incredible shutout streak. Hiram's second half goal was the first Pezzuto had allowed since the season opener against Centre.
Coach Hauter was proud of the way the team responded to the goal. "I love the response. No one put their head down, no one panicked, we just went back to work," said Hauter. "One thing that exists in champions is how they respond when they are knocked down."
The Tigers had little time to celebrate the win, as they headed right back to Boswell on Sunday afternoon to face Olivet. After a tough and emotional game on Saturday, there were doubts about the readiness of the team for Sunday.
"From the moment the Saturday game ended I was asking myself why I scheduled a game for Sunday," Hauter said. "The emotion of NCAC play followed by a strong non-conference opponent is not a good recipe. Fortunately the guys have... over come my scheduling."
A key moment came early in the sixth minute of the game, when Olivet goalkeeper Ryan Grashik was issued a red card. For the rest of the game, replacement goalkeeper Alex Lang would only play with nine men in front of him. The red card proved to be the deciding factor of the game for the Tigers. With one less man on defense, DePauw was able to control possession and outshot the Comets 12-6. This was crucial, as the Tigers offense put four goals past Lang. The first came halfway through the first half, when first-year Julian Gonzalez scored his first of two goals in the game.
The action really heated up in the second half, when Olivet came out and put a lot of pressure on Pezzuto. After a few quality saves, the Comets finally scored just five minutes into the half to tie the game at one.
The Tiger offense got rolling again when, just four minutes later, Andy Morrison found the back of the net to give DePauw a 2-1 lead. Five minutes later, senior George Elliot assisted on a goal by Ables that would prove to be the game winner.
Only 21 seconds after the Ables goal, Gonzalez tallied his second score of the game to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
"We didn't play our best soccer Sunday, especially with being a man up the entire game," Pezzuto said. "That being said, once we were able to settle down and play our game I think our response was a perfect example of what we are capable of as a team."
With the large lead, sophomore Chris Yount played the last twelve minutes in goal for the Tigers, allowing one goal. The Tigers would go on to win 4-2 and improve to 9-0 on the season.
DePauw experienced something that they had not yet encountered in their game Wednesday against Anderson. For the first time all season, the Tigers trailed.
In the 24th minute, Brody Reinholt scored on a pass from Todd Canal to give the Anderson Ravens an early 1-0 lead. For the first time this season, the Tigers would be forced to make a second half comeback.
When the new half began, the Tigers needed almost twenty minutes to get back on track. As they have done multiple times this year, the DePauw offense kicked it into high gear and quickly stunned the Ravens. Andy Morrison scored in the 64th minute to knot the game at one and three minutes later, the game-winning goal was scored by Elliot, with an assist from Gonzalez
This was not the best performance of the season by the Tigers. After going six straight games without allowing a goal, Pezzuto had now given up four goals in the last three games. It also took DePauw more than a third of the game to get itself going.
However, the 2-1 win improved the Tigers to 10-0 on the season and continue the best start in school history.
With the two wins this weekend, DePauw was vaulted to the ninth ranked team in Division III soccer. The Tigers jumped eleven spots in the rankings, done by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Hauter is very proud of his team's mindset throughout this remarkable run.
"This is a unique team in that there is a really high level of understanding of the game, winning and being competitive," Hauter said. "There is such a drive in our older players, that they have kept everyone locked in on the next opponent."
A key that players point to in the streak is the communication that the coaching staff has with them.
"We come into every practice ready to compete, and if coach ever feels the focus isn't there, or there's something he doesn't like he'll talk to us about it," said Pezzuto.
DePauw looks to improve to 11-0 as they host Kenyon College in a NCAC battle next Saturday afternoon at Boswell Field.