Hiram raced to the top of the score sheet early only to surrender three goals without an answer in a 1:3 loss to DePauw University on Saturday.

 

Junior forward Ernestina Zappa (Brooklyn, OH/Laurel) put the Terriers on top of the stunned Tigers in the 6^th minute.  It all developed from a quick restart by junior central midfield player Chelsea Ulmer (Toledo, OH/Sylvania Northview) who played an early ball to first-year midfielder Sarah Condon (Powell, OH/Bishop Watterson).  Condon then played quickly to the feet of fellow first-year forward Tiffany Marchewka (Chesterfield, MI/L’Anse Cruese North) who showed back to Condon.  As Marchewka turned, she found Zappa checking back who deftly dummied the ball to put herself into the DePauw penalty area.  She then calmly slipped it by their keeper to give Hiram a 1:0 lead.

 

“Our start to the match was exactly what we were looking for out of the players,” said Head Coach Bob Dean.  “Our energy was excellent and we really caught DePauw off balance with our speed of play and connections.  The only unfortunate part was that the early goal woke them up and we did not respond very well to that.”

 

At that point, the Terriers seemed to go into a shell as DePauw stepped up to match the Hiram energy.  Junior goalkeeper Kate Valaitis (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy) played the match of her career as she consistently turned away both the easy chances and the difficult ones as the Terriers were under pressure for the remainder of the half.  Hiram surrendered 16 shots and nine on target to the Tigers and gave up seven corners as they defended into the wind in the first half.

 

“Kate played very well and raised the level of her own standards but also of those in front of her,” added Dean about Valaitis.  “Our drop off in possession and energy after our own goal was a learning point and certainly a teachable moment as we move forward.  We would rather step up our play instead of sitting back and allowing teams to come back into a match.”

 

First-year center back Anna Cicchinelli (Stow, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) was stellar in the back returning from a slight concussion suffered nearly  two weeks ago at Baldwin-Wallace as she drew the assignment of tracking two of DePauw’s most threatening players in the attack.

 

“Anna showed great poise and maturity under great pressure,” said Dean.  “And really, everyone needs to draw strength from the fact that even when we took our foot of the gas, we withstood a bad situation that we created for ourselves to end the half up a goal.”

 

The Terriers put together a couple of more quality chances near the end of the half, but were unable to distance themselves from the Tigers. 

 

“At the half, we simply put it out there that we had to be active when defending and do more to dictate what they would do when in possession,” Dean said.  “We were prepared to make some adjustments, but did not really need a major overhaul.”

 

Hiram again put some early energy and excitement into the match to begin the 2^nd stanza and got behind DePauw on two occasions in the opening minutes.  But once again, the Tigers struck right back by establishing their own possession and did their best to stretch out the Terriers by switching the point of attack with the early diagonal ball over the Hiram back line.

 

In the 53^rd minute, the Terriers got caught in a counter attack as they mistakenly turned the ball over unnecessarily in the middle of the park.  DePauw looked to quickly change the point of attack and played early to the left flank.  A seemingly harmless and hanging cross to the 2^nd post became the equalizer when the Terriers did not track the runner who knocked in what became an easy finish to even the score at 1:1.

 

“The response to their goal was really very good,” said Dean.  “We made that chance easy for them with the useless turnover and the inattention to detail by us, but we got right back up, dusted off, and did everything we could.  Really, at this point for us, our ability to go deep into the roster and see the level continue to rise is such a positive sign.”

 

Again, the Terriers created chances when they possessed the ball.  Condon nearly put the Terriers up a goal when she forced the Tiger keeper into a top-shelf diving save in the 70^th minute.  But, that stifled effort proved to be changing point in the match.  A seemingly innocuous throw in deep in the Hiram end for the Tigers was touched back to the thrower who beat the Terrier defender to the byline for a driven serve.  That serve was volleyed home under pressure inside the penalty area to give DePauw a 2:1 advantage.

 

“In reality, that was the first good goal we have surrendered on the season,” said Dean.  “It was well worked, well finished and well deserved.  At that point, with 15 minutes to go, we needed to change our tactic and try to force the play a bit.”

 

After a few changes and reinsertions into the line-up, Hiram switched to a 4-3-3 in an attempt to catch DePauw on a counter and force the match into extra time.  But, the Terriers got caught once again in the quick counter as a turnover was sent early onto the flank for DePauw.  Credit to the DePauw forward for receiving it and turning the Hiram defender deep inside the box and slotting home the ball to drive the nail in the result for the Terriers.

 

“That goal spelled the end of the result, but certainly not the end to the effort,” Dean added.  “We could not be more proud of the push we put on in the last five minutes when the result was truly out of reach for us.  It gives us great hope and promise for our stretch of matches coming up.”

 

“That is a very, very good team that was athletic across the board,” Coach Dean concluded.  “This is not at all a match to judge on the number of shots and chances and what it looks like on paper.  We grew in leaps and bounds today and began to make some statements about who we are and what we are doing.”