Tigers Win Overtime Struggle At Denison

GRANVILLE, Ohio - For the 24th straight time in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season play, the Wittenberg women's lacrosse team found a way to win. Few of those victories have come in more thrilling fashion that the Tigers' 18-17 overtime victory at Denison.

After the Big Red rallied from a four-goal second-half deficit to send the game to overtime, Wittenberg claimed the decision thanks to goals by junior Olivia Lash (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights), senior Megan Loofbourrow (Prospect, Ky./Ballard) and senior Logan Warye (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) in a span of just 1:38. The win was Wittenberg's fourth straigth in regular season play against Denison, and it pushed the Tigers to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the NCAC.

Denison has beaten Wittenberg in two of the last three NCAC Tournament championship games, however, including a stunning rally to win the 2014 title.

Playing on an unseasonably cold but sunny day, the Tigers jumped out to an 8-5 lead by halftime. After Wittenberg scored the first two goals of the second half, Denison staged a tremendous rally, highlighted by a five-goal burst that resulted in a 13-12 advantage with 2:17 remaining.

The Tigers answered, however, behind Warye, who broke the school record for career points. She came into the game with 217 - even with Kati Robbins '01 and Jodi Bennyhoff '89 - and she contributed four goals and two assists in the win over Denison. In addition to what turned out to be the decisive goal in overtime, Warye came up with a clutch pass to sophomore Becca Joseph (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) at the 1:23 mark of the second half.

Lash then briefly put Wittenberg ahead before Denison's Erin Keller found the back of the net with 28 seconds left to force the extra session.

Joseph and Lash led Wittenberg with six goals each. Warye and Lash were tops in draw controls with six each, while junior Carrie Kubasta (Medina, Ohio/Medina) added four draw controls and a team-high four ground balls in the game. That total was matched by junior Bri Murphy (Reading, Conn./Joel Barlow), who was joined by Kubasta, Joseph and Warye with two caused turnovers apiece.

In goal, junior Katie Reuter (Cleveland, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) was credited with 11 saves, including three clutch stops in overtime.

Written By: Ryan Maurer