The relatively young Wittenberg field hockey team put together another fine season in 2005, despite significant personnel losses following the program's third straight conference championship in 2004 and two coaching changes in a span of 12 months.
Another banner fall sports season has reaped rich rewards for 34 Wittenberg University athletes who were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams over the last two weeks, and a number of those individuals have also claimed regional and national awards.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Denison senior forward Jenny Lacey (Phoenix, MD/Notre Dame Prep) and Oberlin senior back Rosemary Mudry (University Hts., OH/Laurel School) have been named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year to highlight the 2005 All-North Coast Athletic Conference field hockey selections.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Wittenberg senior forward Julie Wickham (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) capped her outstanding career in the Red & White with first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors. She led a four-person contingent of Wittenberg player on the All-Great Lakes Region honor roll.
The Wittenberg field hockey team battled all season, and while the Tigers’ three-year run atop the North Coast Athletic Conference came to an end in 2005, a lot of positives can be found.
For the first time in the four-year history of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, the Wittenberg Tigers were forced to take to the road. Then on Wednesday, also for the first time, the Tigers lost an NCAC Tournament game, ending their season with a 2-1 road loss against Wooster.
For the second straight year, the Wittenberg Tigers traveled to Oberlin for a regular season-ending game. For the second straight year, a great deal was on the line and the Tigers rallied for a 2-1 overtime win.
Wittenberg is always a busy place during its annual Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, especially in and around the athletic complex. The 2005 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend may well be the topper.
The Wittenberg Tigers may have just one senior on the roster in 2005, but they still wanted to send forward Julia Wickham out on the right foot, in the process hopefully assuring themselves at least one North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament game at home next week. It didn't happen, however, as the visiting Denison Big Red rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory at Edwards-Maurer Field.
When trying to win a conference championship, it's never advisable for a team to spot its homestanding opponent two first-half goals. However, sometimes a team learns just what it is made of in times of crisis, and that just may have been the case for the Wittenberg Tigers as they rallied past Ohio Wesleyan 3-2 in overtime.
The Wittenberg Tigers took a big step toward their season-long goals on Wednesday, easily defeating Earlham, 6-0, at Edwards-Maurer Field. It was the Tigers' biggest scoring output of the 2005 season, topping the four goals scored 10 days earlier in a win over Transylvania.
The College of Wooster has been a house of horrors for the Wittenberg Tiger field hockey team in recent years, and Saturday was no different. Just weeks after handling their arch-rival 2-0 on their home turf, the Tigers were defeated 3-1 at Wooster in a key North Coast Athletic Conference regular season game.
The Wittenberg field hockey team has picked up steam at just the right time, winning seven of its last eight games and moving into firm control of its own destiny in the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season title chase.
The Wittenberg Tigers have been getting by for the most part on defense and timely offense in 2005, but on Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field Wittenberg took what may have been an important offensive step forward, crushing Transylvania 4-1 in nonconference action.
The turnaround continued on Wednesday as the Wittenberg Tigers won for the fourth straight time and the fifth time in six games with a key 2-1 road win over Kenyon. The win avenged an earlier loss to the Ladies, last year's North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament runner-up to the Tigers.
With its fifth win in the last six games, the Wittenberg Tigers have served notice to the rest of the North Coast Athletic Conference that their three-year stranglehold on the top spot in the standings will not be wrested from them easily. The Tigers upended Oberlin, 1-0, to pull into a tie atop the conference standings.
After an 0-4 start, the Wittenberg Tigers are putting things together at just the right time. With first-place Oberlin coming in for a key North Coast Athletic Conference showdown on Saturday, the Tigers prepped with a 1-0 shutout of visiting Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday.
The Wittenberg Tigers had allowed four one-goal decisions to go the other way already in 2005, but on Sunday perhaps the tide turned a bit as Wittenberg captured a 3-2 decision over Sewanee in a game played at Centre College.
The Wittenberg field hockey team got off to a tough start to the 2005 season, but the ship appears to be righted with a pair of 2-0 victories in the last week over North Coast Athletic Conference rivals Wooster and Earlham.
The Wittenberg Tigers opened the season with a tough series of games, three of which were eventually lost in overtime by one goal each. After getting off the schneid with a 2-0 win over perennial conference powerhouse Wooster on Saturday, the Tigers hit the road and captured a second straight shutout win, this time over winless Earlham.
The Wittenberg Tigers simply had to win on Saturday. Facing the first 0-5 start in more than 25 years (verifiable records available only through 1979), the Tigers came up big with a fine performance and a 2-0 victory over arch-rival Wooster at Edwards-Maurer Field.
The 70-mile journey across Central Ohio to Denison has been a long and treacherous one for the Wittenberg Tigers in recent years, even as the team has captured four of the last five North Coast Athletic Conference titles. On Wednesday, the Tigers continued to struggle in their journeys to Denison and the home of the Big Red in a disappointing 3-0 loss.
The Wittenberg field hockey team has come so close in 2005. For the second straight game to open the campaign, Wittenberg lost a one-goal overtime game on Saturday.
The Wittenberg Tigers opened a new era on Saturday with a 1-0 overtime loss at DePauw. In the Tigers' first game under first-year head coach Diana Kuser, offense was at a premium but sophomore goaltender Nicole Irvin stepped up beautifully.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Three-time defending regular season and NCAC tournament champion Wittenberg has emerged as the favorite in preseason balloting by NCAC field hockey coaches. The Tigers paced all teams in the poll with four of seven first-place votes for 44 points to edge Wooster, which totalled 37 points. Denison finished third with 34 points and one first-place vote, followed by Oberlin with 28 points and the final two first-place votes. Kenyon was right behind in fifth with 27 points.
It’s another fresh start for the Wittenberg field hockey team, which has its third head coach in the last three years. Nothing has slowed the Tigers down in the past, however, so forgive the members of the program for showing little concern about the transition.