The Tigers suffered a 2-0 loss on the road ninth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan (11-1-0) on Wednesday night.
Despite the end result, the Tigers were able to hold their own at points throughout the game.
“Even though Illinois Wesleyan is a top-ranked team, we had moments last night where we calmed down and really played our game,” junior defender Jen Dimos said. “In those moments we proved we can play evenly against such tough competition.”
Still, the Titans proved dominant as they outshot the Tigers 23-5, with 11 of those shots coming on goal.
Illinois Wesleyan scored in each half. The first came from junior Alison Seger and the second from first-year Nathalie Orozco.
“We struggled with our ability to keep the ball and take advantage of counter attacks,” said Dimos. “At some moments we were more concerned with clearing the ball from our back line rather than connecting it up the field to our forwards.”
This loss brought the women’s record down to 5-5-1.
The remainder of their schedule is conference games, which matter if the Tigers hope to make a run in the North Coast Athletic Conference or NCAA tournaments.
It is critical DePauw remains focused on each individual team they are preparing to face, and that starts with Hiram this weekend.
“We need to worry about beating Hiram, not about who we play two or three weeks from now,” said Dimos.
The Tigers return home Saturday for senior recognition day and a conference game against the Terriers at 2:30 p.m. at Reavis Stadium.