Greencastle, Ind. – DePauw set the tone early and finished strong Friday in a 5-2 win over Wittenberg in their home and conference opener.

The Tigers (2-1, 1-0 NCAC) have now won two straight since losing the season opener, and coach Erika Dombkowski has noticed the improvement.

"It was a complete 180 in the first half from last week," she said. "We fixed what we needed to be fixed."

The transition, the self-starting and the spacing were all the things the Tigers improved upon. They outshot Wittenberg (0-4, 0-1 NCAC) 17-9 and had 14 penalty corners to Wittenberg's two.

Grace Goodbarn scored the game's first goal off a penalty stroke (2:35) to put DePauw up 1-0. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead at the half thanks to a goal from Reilly Bruce at the 19:05 mark. Natalie Abbott recorded the assist.

Wittenberg drew closer with a goal from Maddie Goelz at 44:05 in the second half. DePauw's Paige Berliner made it a 3-1 game with her second goal of the season (52:08), but the two-goal lead was erased two minutes later with a goal from Wittenberg's Andrea Mattingly.

DePauw closed the game with two more insurance goals. The first came from Sofia Carretero (64:24) off an assist from Goodbarn

 The Tigers then used a corner penalty after time expired to move ahead 5-2. With Maddy Burds at the corner, the ball found its way to Abbott who then found Goodbarn for her second goal.

Goodbarn is now tied for the lead in goals on the team with Berliner and Bruce.

The Tigers return to action noon Sunday when they host Rhodes.