Tigers Strengthen Conference Hopes With Win At Ohio Wesleyan
Heading into the final week and a half of the 2010 regular season, the Wittenberg field hockey team remains on top of the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with an 8-1 league record following a 2-0 win at Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday night.
DELAWARE, Ohio — Heading into the final week and a half of the 2010 regular season, the Wittenberg field hockey team remains on top of the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with an 8-1 league record following a 2-0 win at Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday night.
The Tigers improved to 11-3 overall with just three regular season contests remaining. Kenyon and Wooster both won on Tuesday and remained locked in a tie for second place in the conference standings at 7-2. The win is Wittenberg's second over Ohio Wesleyan this season, following a 3-2 overtime win in Springfield on Thursday, Oct. 7.
Though both the Ladies and Scots are still within striking distance, Wittenberg has clinched an appearance in the NCAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, Nov. 3, with semifinal matches between the first- and fourth-seeded teams and second- and third-seeded teams.
On Wednesday, the Tigers' leading scorers, seniors Tori Casanta (Mason, Ohio/Cor Jesu Academy) and Boo Vernon (Lake Bluff, Ill./Cushing Academy) again led the way, each scoring an unassisted goal.
Casanta struck five minutes before the end of the first half, and Vernon added her tally off her own rebound eight minutes into the second. Vernon's goal came on one of a torrent of shots, as she unleashed nine attempts throughout the match.
Just as key were two big stops at the defensive end which prevented two Battling Bishop goals. Senior Meredith Price (Highland Park, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and junior Kellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) both earned defensive saves, while junior goalkeeper Jenny Schaafsma (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) stopped six shots.
The final three-game stretch of the season begins on Saturday, Oct. 23, with a 2 p.m. match at Oberlin that also serves as a a Stick It To Cancer event, a fundraising collaboration between both teams, the National Field Hockey Coaches Association and the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
John Strawn '07