Round Up: Tigers Pick Up Two Wins After Three Straight Losses

Geri Woessner

The Tiger women's soccer team has had an up-and-down start to the 2003 season, but the momentum, despite injuries to several key players, seems to be in the positive direction after two straight wins to carry the team back to the .500 mark.

The latest win was perhaps the biggest among the three so far this season, a 1-0 victory on the road at Wilmington on Thursday. Senior Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood)scored the game's lone goal on a second-half breakaway against a team that is perennially at the top of the Ohio Athletic Conference and involved in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Senior goaltender Jenny Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy)recorded the shutout.

Wittenberg opened the season with an impressive win over a 2002 NCAA Division III Tournament team, Mount St. Joseph, on Aug. 29. Also a road game, the Tigers dominated action throughout to gain a 2-0 victory on goals by Woessner and freshman Liz Volz (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton).

After that opening win, the Tigers lost three straight one-goal decisions. First came a 2-1 loss at Capital on Aug. 31, followed by a 1-0 home defeat against nationally ranked DePauw on Sept. 6 and a 2-1 defeat against Rose-Hulman on Sept. 7. Sophomore Lindsey Zigler (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) scored the Tigers' lone goals during that stretch.

Zigler scored the game-tying goal in a 2-2 tie against Mount Union on Sept. 13. Junior Meredith Belser (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) had the Tigers' first goal in that game.

Since then, the Tigers have posted back-to-back victories over quality foes, beginning with a 1-0 victory over NAIA scholarship program Ohio Dominican on Tuesday. Freshman Mandie Dimenna (Blacklick, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) scored the game's lone goal in the first half off an assist from sophomore Melissa Gallion (West Jefferson, Ohio/West Jefferson).

For the season, Zigler leads the offense with three goals in the first seven games, while Woessner, the team's leading scorer each of the last three years, has five total points with two goals and an assist. Defensively, the Tigers are getting great work out of Miller, who has a goals against average of just over one per game.

The Tigers now have a fun and interesting weekend ahead of them. They travel to eastern Pennsylvania for a Sunday game at Susquehanna. Before they play, however, the team will get the rare and exciting opportunity to attend a Women's World Cup doubleheader in Philadelphia on Saturday. Wittenberg will see games between Norway and France and Nigeria and Korea.