Greencastle, Ind. - The DePauw University men's soccer team shutout the Wabash College Little Giants 5-0 in a dominant performance on Wednesday night.
Entering the game with a chip on their shoulder in this rivalry, DePauw's junior midfielder Julian Bell gained possession of a ball and delivered a bicycle kick into.. the top left corner of the net, beyond the goalie's reach at 10:19 to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. This was Bell's seventh goal of the season, leading the Tigers statistically.
With one minute left in the first half, junior forward Braden Murphey was subbed in and converted on a bobbled pass from Bell to record DePauw's second goal of the night in the bottom left corner with a left foot kick at 44:05. This was Murphey's fourth goal of the season.
Up 2-0 going into halftime, DePauw started to rotate players tallying 12 substitutions in total.
Entering the second half, the Tigers drew a free kick at midfield. Junior midfielder Roman Girandola executed a clean kick to the goalie who failed to gain control of the ball on the save. Junior defender Harrison E.ngel took advantage of the loose ball, redirecting the ball back into the goal for the Tigers' third goal, leading 3-0 at 52.07. This was Engel's second goal of the season.
In the 63rd minute, Girandola scored an unassisted goal th.at was overturned during a challenge by the Wabash coaches. The ball did not change direction after a saved shot allowing the goalie time to recover and protect himself or the ball from entering the goal, leading to a potential foul being drawn in the net.
Determined to lengthen the lead, the Tigers drew another midfield free kick that led to a scramble in front of the net allowing freshman midfielder Cole Garofola to score his first career goal in the bottom left corner of the net, assisted by junior defender Aditya Yogesh.
For the nightcap, junior defender Alek Habecker made a shot that ricocheted off the left post and fell right in front of junior forward Cayden Sumner making for a swift goal in the middle of the net, ending the game 5-0 for the Tigers. This was Sumner's second career goal, first of the season.
Bell led DePauw with four shots during the game, two on goal and ended the game with three points (1 goal, 1 assist).
12 Tigers tallied shots, eight were able to make at least one on goal. DePauw edged Wabash 17-0 in shots, recording a high of 10 in the first half.
Senior goalkeeper Sam Ortner played the full 90-minutes, facing no shots on goal while Wabash's goalkeeper made five saves in the net for the Little Giants.
One yellow card was awarded to a Wabash player and two were assigned to DePauw players for unsportsmanlike conduct.
With the win, DePauw sits at 2-2-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings (10-3-1 overall), while Wabash is second to last with a 1-4 record, 10-6-1 overall.
Moving forward in conference play, the Tigers will head to Wooster on Saturday, October 24th at 12:00 p.m.
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