The Wittenberg field hockey team is now into the meat of the NCAC schedule, and a once dormant offense is showing signs of life. Since losing 2-0 at Oberlin on Sept. 13, the Tigers picked up a 3-1 home win over Earlham on Sept. 17, lost 1-0 at preseason conference favorite Wooster on Sept. 20 and rebounded with a 6-5 win over Kenyon back at Edwards-Maurer Field on Wednesday.
Interestingly, Wittenberg is 3-0 at home this year and currently riding a 15-game win streak on the astroturf of Edwards-Maurer Field. Since Head Coach Marianne Beshara came on board in 2000, the Tigers have a sparkling 26-3 overall record at home.
Against Wooster, the Tigers were outshot 28-9, but All-America goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) was up to the challenge, turning away 11 shots and only yielding a lone Wooster score on a second-half penalty stroke. Against Kenyon, Wittenberg took commanding first-half leads of 3-0 and 5-2 before hanging on for a 6-5 win. Junior Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) finished with two goals and one assist, sophomore Julia Wickham (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) added one goal and one assist and junior Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes) chipped in with a pair of goals to lead the offensive barrage.
Wittenberg travels to Greencastle, Ind. to face always-tough DePauw on Saturday for the second-to-last nonconference game of the season. The Tigers return to NCAC action next Wednesday against Ohio Wesleyan before heading into a key trio of conference match-ups the following week against front-runners Denison, Oberlin and Wooster.