GENEVA, NY - The Wittenberg Tigers made it a game on Saturday, but eventually William Smith, the No. 5 ranked team in the nation and owners of three national titles in the last decade, took control for a 5-2 decision in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Tigers saw their season come to a close with a record of 15-5 overall after winning the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships for a third straight year.
The Tigers fell behind 1-0 just two minutes into the game, but junior forward Julia Wickham responded with a goal at the 6:31 mark of the first half, her 12th of the season. The assist went to sophomore forward Katy Barrett.
The rest of the first half was all William Smith as the Herons, host of the five-team regional tournament bracket, as they outshot the Tigers 26-2 and scored two more goals. The second half didn't start much better as the Herons scored a goal less than two minutes in, before senior midfielder Blair Ufer scored the final goal of her illustrious collegiate career at the 60:35 mark. William Smith added one final score for the final margin of 5-2.
Freshman goalkeeper Nicole Irvin made 14 big saves for the Tigers, compared to two for her William Smith counterpart.
The Tigers are now 0-7 all-time in NCAA Division III Tournament action. The two goals Wittenberg scored against William Smith were the first the Tigers have scored in the last three years of national tournament games after losing 6-0 at Cortland State in 2003 and 3-0 against Williams at Messiah College in 2002.