Tigers Take Their First Official Game of the Season

Katie Babcock

The Wittenberg women's lacrosse team won its first official game of the season on April 3 at home against Allegheny by an 8-4 score. The Tigers defeated Earlham on March 31, but the game does not count toward official statistics since the Quakers are a club organization in 2004.

In the win over Allegheny, the Tigers got a stellar game from freshman goaltender Clare Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley), who came up with 10 saves. Offensively, freshman Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) showed the way with four goals. Freshman Melissa Jackson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) added two goals and senior Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) chipped in with three assists.

On April 7, the Tigers gave the preseason NCAC favorite Wooster a solid run for its money before falling at home by an 8-5 count. Bucheit had her best game as a collegian, turning away 16 Wooster shots in the defeat. Thomas led the offense with two goals, junior Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) added one goal and one assist and junior Rachel Ridgeway (Montclair, NJ/The Taft School) also finished with one goal and one assist.

After an eight-day layoff, the Tigers got back into action with their third straight home game and things didn't go as planned against nationally ranked Colorado College. Playing their third nationally ranked nonconference opponent of the 2004 season, Wittenberg was walloped 19-2. Jackson and Ridgeway had the goals and Bucheit came up with 15 saves in the loss.

This is a big week for the Tigers, who return to action with key NCAC games at Kenyon on Wednesday and at home against Denison on Saturday. Wooster leads the conference currently, but four teams have two losses, including Wittenberg. Among the teams chasing the final three NCAC Tournament spots (along with Wittenberg) are Kenyon, Denison and Ohio Wesleyan.