Tigers Bounce Back With Win At Ohio Northern

Kelly Brothers

ADA, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers took a couple of body blows in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational over the weekend, but they bounced back in a big way with a 2-0 shutout at perennial Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouse Ohio Northern.

The win moved the Tigers back to 4-2 on the season, while the Polar Bears dropped to 3-2. It was the start of a busy week for Wittenberg, culminating with a pair of home dates over the upcoming weekend against Manchester and Capital.

The win at ONU was keyed by stellar defense and goalkeeping as the sophomore tandem of Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) and Cassie Lythjohan (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) combined for seven saves in the game. They split the time in net evenly in the game.

After giving up an uncharacteristic four goals in losses to No. 8 John Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon in their previous two games, the Tigers were back playing their typical punishing defensive game against the Polar Bears. One of those key defenders, junior Kelly Brothers (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome), even pushed up into the offensive action to assist on the game's first goal when she crossed the ball into the penalty area, where sophomore Kailey Striebel (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) finished the play.

Striebel then set up the game's second goal, converting an ONU turnover into a pass to junior Megan Utter (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) in the 77th minute.

For the game, the Polar Bears were credited with a 14-11 advantage in shots and a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.