Round Up: Tigers Move Up the Ranks With Two Shutouts
The Wittenberg field hockey team is heating up at just right time.
The Wittenberg field hockey team is heating up at just right time. The three-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champions have won five of their last six games to climb back to 5-5 overall and, more importantly, 4-2 in the NCAC.
A 1-0 win over Oberlin, which had won six straight games to take the early lead in the NCAC, on Saturday pulled the Tigers back even with the pack in a wide open conference title chase. Freshman Mackenzie Huber (Milford, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) scored the second-half game-winner and sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Irvin (Gettysburg, Pa./Littlestown) turned away 10 shots in recording her second straight 1-0 win and the fourth shutout of the 2005 season.
For Huber, it was the second time in three games that she had a hand in a game-winning score, coming less than a week after she assisted on a goal by sophomore Alison Voigt (Louisville, Ky./Ballard) that provided the 3-2 margin of victory over Sewanee. For her efforts, Huber was named NCAC Player of the Week.
After losing four times in overtime in the first three weeks of the season, the Tigers may be finding the right formula, which starts with a stout defense. Irvin has a supporting cast around that is almost entirely new in 2005, yet the Tigers have hardly missed a beat a year after allowing just 20 goals in 19 regular season games. Through 10 games this year, Wittenberg has given up just 11 scores, and nine of their opponents have been held to two goals or fewer.
Offensively, it has been a struggle for the Tigers, who scored a whopping 64 goals in 2004. Wittenberg has 11 goals all season, with junior forward Katy Barrett (Powell, Ohio/Watterson) leading the way with four scores. It was her second-half tally against Ohio Wesleyan last Wednesday that pushed the Tigers over the .500 mark for the first time in 2005.