Season in Review

Amy Meige

After the best season in a decade for Wittenberg University's women's soccer team in 2005, the Tigers reloaded and set their sights on the NCAA Division III Tournament. Mission accomplished. 

The 2006 season proved to be even more memorable than the 2005 campaign as the Tigers won their first-ever North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament title, and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in the history of the program.

The Tigers opened the season on shaky ground, losing two of the first three games. But they surged back, losing just one game the rest of the season. After just missing the regular season conference title, the team rebounded in the NCAC playoffs, defeating the defending conference champion and preseason favorite Denison University in the championship game. The next weekend, Wittenberg won their first NCAA Division III Tournament game against Otterbein, but after tying Denison in the second round, they bowed out of the national competition on penalty kicks.

Wittenberg ended up with a 15-3-4 overall record, including a 5-1-2 mark in the NCAC.

Junior goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne)had a simply outstanding season. The best offense is a good defense and that was proven during the 2006 season as Wittenberg ranked first in both goals allowed (11) and goals against average (0.48/game) in the conference. O'Rourke could potentially tie the NCAC record for shutouts in a career, which stands at 41, if she adds just nine more to her school record 32 in 2007. Her 77 saves on the season were deceptively low, thanks to the Tigers' stingy defense that allowed just 75 shots on goal and only 10 goals all season.

The Tigers capped off the 2006 season by racking up a trophy case full of awards besides the conference tournament hardware, including the most all-region honorees in school history (four) and the most of any school in the Great Lakes Region.

Senior defender Jamie McIntyre (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) earned a spot on the All-NCAC first team for the third straight year. In addition, McIntyre was named All-Ohio and second-team All-Great Lakes Region, which makes it her third straight year for each of those awards. Also earning first-team all-conference honors were sophomore midfielder Suzanne Medwid (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and junior midfielder Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland). Medwid made the conference leaderboard with six assists, good for a fifth place tie, on top of four goals for a total of 14 points. Farrell posted nine goals, including three game-winners, and one assist on the season.

Jamie McIntyre

O'Rourke garnered second-team all-conference status along with junior forward Sydney Bates (Loveland, Ohio/Milford). Bates scored three goals and provided one assist on the season.

Junior Lisa Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), the team's scoring leader in 2005, was absent from postseason awards due to an injury which limited her to 12 games in 2006, but twin Lindsey Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) made the conference team for the second time at midfield, earning honorable mention status. Also earning honorable mention was sophomore defender Jamie Mack (Rochester, NY/Penfield).

McIntyre was the team's lone senior in 2006, and she capped her collegiate career in style with more accolades and honors. Other than the all-conference, all-state and all-region honors bestowed upon her, McIntyre holds the distinction of starting the most consecutive games in a career as a Tiger soccer player, having done so in every single game of her career. In all, she started 80 games in the Red & White, and played an integral part in the rise of a program from 8-10-1 in 2003 to 15-3-4 in 2006.

Norm Riker (Springfield '92) ended his fifth year at Wittenberg the owner of a 54-34-10 record at the school, including a 21-17-2 record against conference opponents.

Riker, also an assistant for the men's lacrosse team, came to Wittenberg from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. where he was an assistant on both the men's lacrosse and women's soccer teams respectively. Riker earned 2004 NCAC Coach of the Year honors after leading the Tigers to an 11-4-5 record and the program's first appearance in the conference tournament championship game.