After winning three of four games late in October last season, DePauw women’s soccer team’s hopes of a berth in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament were dashed with an overtime loss at Denison University in the season finale.
This time around, things would be different for the Tigers (10-6-1, 7-1-0), as they closed out the 2015 regular season with a 3-0 win on the road at Allegheny College (4-12-2, 2-4-2) to secure home field advantage for the upcoming NCAC tournament that begins on Wednesday.
To earn the home field advantage for the duration of the tournament, the Tigers ran the tables during conference play, dropping only one decision in the eight games played so far, which came in the form of a 3-1 loss on the road at Denison last weekend.
To go from missing out on the conference tournament entirely to winning the NCAC regular season crown shows the development the program has undergone in only the second season under head coach Megan McCormick.
“Coach McCormick has always been an amazing and experienced coach,” junior forward Elizabeth Seewer said. “I think it was more of us having another year of experience with her. We had a rough transition year last season but she's done a stunning job recruiting new players and building the program as this year has gone on, and I fully believe that she has her system figured out now which has helped us grow and develop tremendously.”
That understanding of her system was certainly evident for the Tigers against the Gators on Saturday, as DePauw controlled much of the play throughout.
First-year midfielder Abbie Enright got the Tigers on the board in the 34th minute, scoring off of a deflection. It was the fifth goal of the season by a first-year Tiger.
“The freshman class brought a lot of talent to this team,” senior goalie Sarah Cho said.
After taking the 1-0 lead into halftime, senior forward Stephanie Martin gave the Tigers some insurance early on in the second half with a goal of her own just 10 minutes into play.
Sophomore forward Bridget Brenza rounded out the scoring and put things away for the Tigers, scoring off of a corner in the 81st minute.
Sophomore transfer student and goalie Riley Riordan got the bulk of the work in net for the Tigers, making one save in the first 85 minutes before being replaced by Cho for the remainder of the game.
The Tigers will now turn their attention to their matchup with Wittenberg University in the first round of the NCAC tournament on Wednesday night at Reavis Stadium. The two teams met just once during the regular season, with the Tigers claiming a 2-1 win in overtime.
“We'll also hopefully have a crowd which sets such a positive and thrilling atmosphere for us,” Seewer said. “All the variables are right, we just need to capitalize off of them.”
DePauw and Wittenberg will get things started on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and the winner of that game will face the winner of the match between Kenyon College and Denison.