The Wittenberg University field hockey team, the North Coast Athletic Conference champion for the third straight year, will play in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the seventh time in school history. The Tigers received a first-round bye and will begin second round play at William Smith College at 11 a.m. Saturday.
William Smith is ranked No. 5 in the nation after winning the Liberty League championship last weekend. The third round is set for Sunday, with the winner of that game advancing to the Final Four Nov. 19-20 at Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass.
Wittenberg concluded the 2004 season with a 15-4 overall record, including an 9-3 mark in the NCAC, which was good for the Tigers' seventh regular season conference title in school history. Last week, Wittenberg added a third straight conference tournament title to earn the automatic bid into the national tournament with wins over Wooster on Wednesday and Kenyon on Saturday. The Tigers captured the regular season title with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Oberlin on Oct. 30 as senior midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) scored a first-half goal and then the game-winner in overtime. The Tigers captured the NCAC Tournament championship by defeating Wooster in Wednesday's semifinals by a 3-2 score and Kenyon in Saturday's championship match by a score of 4-2.
Against Wooster, the Tigers responded to their biggest challenge of the season, rallying for two goals in an eight-minute span in the second half to earn a 3-2 win. After Wooster took the lead on a penalty stroke early in the game, sophomore Katy Barrett (Powell, Ohio/Watterson) scored off an assist from Ufer. In the second half, Wittenberg pressured Wooster for much of the 35 minutes after the Scots had taken a 2-1 lead early in the half. The game-tying score came off the stick of sophomore midfielder Holly McHugh (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), who knocked in a deflected ball after a penalty corner play broke down. The game-winner came courtesy of Ufer, who found the back of the cage as part of the penalty corner play, with senior Carrie Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian) picking up the assist.
Against Kenyon, Wittenberg answered an early score by their visitors as sophomore Rachel Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) found the back of the cage off an assist from Ufer. Then, with 19:45 left in the first half, Wittenberg took its first lead of the game as Ufer slammed home a goal off a penalty stroke. Leading 2-1, the Tigers pounced again as Barrett scored the first of her two goals. She rounded out the scoring in the second half to extend a tenuous lead to two goals and give the Tigers the win.
Wittenberg placed five players on the all-tournament team - Dunn, junior Julia Wickham (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) and seniors Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes), Melanie Boss (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) and Happ. Ufer took home tournament MVP honors.
The Tigers have made six previous NCAA appearances (1994, '95, '97, '98, 2002, '03) and are looking for their first NCAA win. Last fall, Wittenberg lost to Cortland State, 6-0, in the second round. Ufer is the conference's leading scorer with an average of 2.47 points per game (17 goals and 13 assists in 19 games). In addition, freshman goalkeeper Nicole Irvin (Gettysburg, Pa./Littlestown) leads the NCAC with nine shutouts in 19 games. She has a 1.34 goals against average.