Whitewater, Wis. - The DePauw University men's soccer team fell to #3 University of Chicago, 2-0, in the first round of the NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Tournament at Robert W. Fiskum FIeld.
The Tigers came out strong, fighting to outwit the nationally ranked Maroons with an unyielding pace of play.
NCAC First-Team selection,
Braden Murphey made the first shot of the day delivering a shot just wide left of the net. The Tigers continued to apply pressure fighting in the attacking third to win a corner kick at 5:28. The kick was cleared away by the Maroons with a header, but DePauw quickly secured another corner seconds later.
Jungwoo Ryu tallied the Tigers first shot on goal with a long shot from midfield.
The Tigers' controlled 60% of the ball in the first half, generating four corner opportunities in the opening 23 minutes. Ryu and Murphey pushed shots high, while
Aidan Whitley forced a save in the 7th minute to keep the Tigers on the front foot early.
The Maroon capitalized on a loose ball in the box in the 25th minute to strike an unassisted goal to put the Maroons ahead, 1-0.
Coming back from the half, UChicago tightened up their defense allowing less scoring opportunities while the Tigesr' tried to maintain intensity and possession.
Sebastian Leon gave DePauw their best chance of scoring in the 60th minute with a shot on goal, saved by UChicago's goalkeeper.
Roman Girandola forced another stop in the 80th minute.
Goalkeeper
Sam Ortner kept the Tigers within reach, post three saves, including two critical stops late in the first half. Ortner ends his standout junior season with 11 wins.
The Tigers and Maroon remained consistent across the halves with 5-7 shots by period, 4-5 corner kicks, 2-1 saves by period, and 5-10 fouls.
With the loss, DePauw is eliminated from tournament play and its season is concluded, while UChicago moves on to play WashU tomorrow in round two of the NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Tournament.
The Tigers end their historic season with the NCAC Regular Season title, NCAC Tournament title, NCAA DIII Tournament automatic bid, and a winning record of 12-3-5 (5-0-3). The team went undefeated at home with just two ties and a winning percentage of .725.
