Late Goal Pushes Denison Past Tigers In NCAC Tournament Semis

Springfield, Ohio - The Wittenberg women's soccer team found its stride offensively down the stretch of the 2023 season, scoring at least two goals in six straight games and compiling a 5-0-1 record in that stretch to claim a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championship. In the NCAC Tournament semifinals, however, fourth-seeded Denison had all the answers for the Tigers defensively, leading to a hard-fought 1-0 victory and a berth in Sunday's championship game.

The loss, which avenged a 2-0 Wittenberg win at Denison one week earlier, evened the Tigers' record at 7-7-5 overall. Denison improved to 7-4-6.

The Big Red held an advantage in shots of 18-11, including nine on goal versus two for the Tigers. The shots on goal count doesn't include either of two shots that struck the crossbar in the first half.

The lone score in the game was the result of a full-field counter-attack by Denison. Multiple Tiger defender made attempts to end the threat, but the Big Red fought through several challenges until Ellie Reiser found space at the top of the Wittenberg penalty box and slotted a through ball to Kendall Sierens. After taking a touch to settle the ball, Sierens found the back of the net with just 20:18 remaining on the second half clock.

Freshman goalkeeper Lily Winkle (Cynthiana, Kentucky/Harrison County) turned in another solid performance with eight saves in the game. The Tiger defense as a unit held up well against six Denison corner kicks.

Wittenberg's offense had several counter-attack opportunities, but few turned into legitimate scoring chances until the closing minutes. Two transition attempts led to corner kicks and another resulted in a free kick from a dangerous position, but the Tigers were unable get any second-half shots on frame.

Junior Grace Kopema (Macedonia, Ohio/Nordonia) led Wittenberg with three shots in the game, while junior Brooke Mullis (Lawrenceburg, Indiana/Taylor) added two shots.