FIeld Hockey Falls to Rhodes in Season Opener
Springfield, OH - The Tiger field hockey team opened the 2025 season at home against Rhodes College after a successful 2024 campaign and hoped to start on a good note once again. Unfortunately, the Lynx from Rhodes College were able to leave Springfield with a 3-0 win. Being the first game of the season for each team, Rhodes starts the season 1-0, while Wittenberg's record stands at 0-1.
Rhodes started out the game with 1-0 lead only five minutes into the first quarter after Wittenberg was unable to score on a couple of penalty corner attempts early in the game. To begin the second quarter, after another five minutes of play, Rhodes found the back of the goal again to double their lead and make it 2-0. Just three minutes later, the Lynx increased their lead once again to make it 3-0. Throughout the rest of the game, the Tigers were able to make great defnsive stops despite Rhodes contorlling the ball for the majority of the game.
To start the second half, the Tigers inserted freshman Taryn Toburen (Lititz, PA / Warwick) into goal, where she led all goalies in saves with three, one of which was a diving stop across the goal in the fourth quarter. While holding Rhodes scoreless in the second half, the Tigers made some runs in their attacking side, but the Rhodes defense was too much for Wittenberg to overcome, as the Lynx won 3-0.
Team Leaders
- Aysha Johnson (Kettering, OH / Fairmont) and Devyn Groves (La Grange, KY / Oldham County Senior) each logged a shot during the game, both coming from penalty corner attempts.
- Toburen not only led the team in saves, but led all other goalkeepers in saves as well.
Team Comparison
- The Lynx led in most categories, notably in shots, 18-2, but the Tigers had the edge in saves with four and Rhodes had many more fouls with the count being 41-17.
Next Up
The Tigers will take on Centre next on Sunday, August 31 at Edwards-Maurer Field at noon and will look to take their record to 1-1 and become .500 on the young season.
Written By: Grant Martin