Denison, Wittenberg Play To Scoreless Draw; Big Red Advance To NCAA Division III Third Round On Penalty Kicks

Photo by Robbie Gantt Amy Meige battles for possession

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After 110 minutes of scoreless NCAA Division III Tournament women's soccer, five penalty kicks per team weren't even enough to settle the rubber match between the Wittenberg Tigers and the Denison Big Red.

Enter Denison senior forward Lisa Nowack, who had not logged a single minute of game action in two frigid nights at Wittenberg. She knocked home what turned out to be the winning penalty kick on the Big Red's sixth attempt of a tense shootout. When Denison goalkeeper Liz Gillette saved the Tigers' final shot attempt, it was the Big Red celebrating on the same field where Wittenberg had lofted the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament trophy a week earlier.

Officially, the game went into the history books as a 0-0 tie, but Denison advanced to next week's Round of 16 at a site to be determined after holding a 3-2 advantage in penalty kicks. The Tigers' season came to an end with an overall record of 15-3-4, while Denison moves on to face undefeated Calvin College with a 15-4-2 mark.

Much like the first two games between the teams, which ended in a 2-0 Denison win in the regular season and a 1-0 Wittenberg win in the NCAC Tournament final, action primarily took place in the midfield and scoring chances were at a premium. Denison attempted 12 shots, including eight on goal, led by Anne Young with four. Wittenberg junior goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) was forced into eight saves, all during regulation. She earned her 13th shutout of the 2006 season and a school-record 32nd shutout of her Wittenberg career.

The Tigers were credited with nine shots, with five directed on the Denison net. Junior Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) led Wittenberg with three shots. Gillette was forced into five saves in recording her 10th shutout of the season for Denison. Wittenberg junior Sydney Bates (Loveland, Ohio/Milford) had the only shot of either 10-minute overtime period for either team, a good scoring chance early in the first session that Gillette saved.

The shootout was a most unusual of affairs, as Denison was stopped on its first three attempts, two on O'Rourke saves. However, Wittenberg was limited to just one goal on its first three attempts - by freshman Kelsi Hains (Granger, Ind./Clay) - to keep Denison alive.

Denison then nailed two straight shots, while Wittenberg sophomore Suzanne Medwid (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) made the Tigers' fourth penalty shot before the final Tiger attempt was stopped to extend the shootout. That set up the aforementioned sequence on the sixth shots for each team.