Second-Half Barrage Carries Tigers To Senior Night Win Over Kenyon

Cailyn Roeble

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A pair of first-half defensive saves led to a second-half breakout and a key 2-0 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Senior Night victory for Wittenberg over visiting Kenyon.

The win moved the Tigers to 12-3-1 overall and 4-1-0 in the NCAC. More importantly, Wittenberg is now in second place in the conference, one point behind Wooster and one point ahead of Allegheny, the Tigers' final two regular season opponents. Kenyon dropped to 6-7-2 and 1-2-2 in the NCAC.

Decked out in pink uniforms to promote cancer awareness, Wittenberg outshot Kenyon 7-4 in the opening half and controlled much of the action, but the Ladies had the best scoring opportunity. A flurry around the Tigers' goal in the 20th minute led to a pair of clutch defensive saves by sophomore Lauren McMahon (Loveland, Ohio/Ursuline). The half ended with Kenyon credited with five saves, compared to two for Tiger sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula), to go along with McMahon's heroics.

That set the stage for a second-half barrage. Over the course of the final 45 minutes, Wittenberg outshot Kenyon 12-0 and scored a pair of goals. The first came in the 51st minute as senior Cailyn Roeble (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) scored off an assist from junior Sheryl Chambers (Victorville, Calif./St. Joan of Arc). Eight minutes later, junior Allie Keefer (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) found the back of the net off a feed from sophomore Kailey Striebel (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont).

Roeble was one of five seniors honored prior to the game, joining Maureen Buckley (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Maggie Amorello (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy), Kelly Foley (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) and Erin McLeish (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto).