Tigers Hold Off Ohio Wesleyan To Remain In NCAC Tourney Hunt

DELAWARE, Ohio - With three games left in the 2013 regular season, the Wittenberg Tigers found themselves in a must-win situation. They responded with a nail-biter of a 2-1 victory over host Ohio Wesleyan.

The win moved the Tigers to 7-10 overall, but more importantly Wittenberg's record in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) improved to 5-7 with games against last-place Earlham and first-place DePauw remaining. Ohio Wesleyan is now 5-10 overall and 3-9 in the NCAC.

Wittenberg was outshot in the game by a decisive 18-7 margin, and the Tigers trailed 6-5 in penalty corner opportunities. But two Wittenberg attempts on goal found the back of OWU's cage - one in each half - as the Tigers avenged a 1-0 loss to the Battling Bishops earlier in the season.

The first Wittenberg goal was credited as an Ohio Wesleyan own goal after a Wittenberg cross was deflected off a defender's stick and into the Bishops' cage. Two minutes into the second half, the Tigers made it 2-0 on a goal by junior Beth Warning (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) off a feed from junior Casey Fry (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea).

In the 60th minute, OWU got one goal back, but the Wittenberg defense held up the rest of the way to secure the win. Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Brownell (Ocnomowoc, Wis./University Lake School) made six saves for the Tigers, who trail Wooster for fourth place in the NCAC standings by one game.