Tiger Field Hockey Drops OT Heartbreaker To Denison In NCAC Semis

GRANVILLE, OH - Wittenberg Field Hockey's astounding season came to a dramatic close Wednesday evening as the Tigers, seeded third in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament, fell in a nailbiter, losing 1-0 to the No. 2 seeded Denison Big Red in a thrilling semifinal match-up. The season-ending loss left the Tigers with a final record of 11-3 overall, while Denison improved to 11-6 and advanced to the NCAC Tournament championship game to play the winner of No. 1 seed Ohio Wesleyan and No. 4 seed DePauw.

Wittenberg's 2024 record is its best since 2017, when the Tigers went 14-6.

First half action was marked by a staunch defensive performance for Witt. The Tigers allowed just one shot in the first period and two in the second. 

In the second period, Wittenberg's offense found its rhythm and tallied three shots and a pair of penalty corners, as Lucy Ripepi (Lakewood, OH/Magnificat), Maddi Krasnow (Bexley, OH/Bexley), and Devyn Groves (La Grange, KY/Oldham County Senior) each recorded a shot. However, none were able to find the back of the cage, and the Tigers and Big Red headed into halftime knotted at zero.

Wittenberg's defense sustained its impressive play in the third and fourth periods as the defensive unit successfully defended against Denison's seven penalty corners and nine total shots. Senior goalkeeper Caitlin Archdeacon (Saratoga, CA/Westmont) continued to come up big for Witt and the two teams took the scoreless match into overtime, just as they did during their regular season game in Springfield a few weeks earlier.

Groves tested Denison's goalkeeper early in overtime but was turned away. However, just two minutes later, the Big Red capitalized on a penalty corner and took home the narrow 1-0 win. In the regular season meeting between the two teams, Denison also won by one goal in overtime, that time by a 3-2 margin.

Archdeacon was credited with six saves in the game, compared to four for Denison's goalkeeper. The shot count for the game was 13-7 in favor of the Big Red, and the penalty corners numbered 11-5 in favor of Denison.

In Head Coach Brighid Kortnya's first year at the helm, the Tigers were led by a tremendous nine-player senior class: Caitlin Archdeacon (Saratoga, CA/Westmont), Shannon Csordos (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), Lucy Devita (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington), Allyson Miller (Saline, MI/Saline), Lauren Neutzling (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson), Victoria Pipinich (Fort Worth, TX/All Saints Episcopal), Lucy Ripepi (Lakewood, OH/Magnificat), Izzy Thompson (New Albany, OH/New Albany), and Katie Webber (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington).