SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - On a windy Saturday afternoon, the Wittenberg field hockey team recognized its four seniors while embracing the tough challenge ahead in the visiting Wooster Fighting Scots. Leading the conference race, the Scots showed why they had already clinched the North Coast Athletic Conference championship in a 3-0 victory over Wittenberg.
The Tigers fell to 11-6 overall and 9-3 in the NCAC. Despite the loss, Wittenberg will host an NCAC Tournament semifinal game for the seventh straight year - the only conference team to do that. The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the championship event, with the winner of the four-team bracket earning the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wooster will be the top seed in the tourney after claiming the regular season title with a perfect 12-0 record.
The Tigers played the Scots tough in the opening minutes, but they were unable to stick with them throughout the entire game. Wooster applied a great deal of pressure on the Tiger defense in taking a 2-0 halftime lead.
The second half was more intense than the first as both senior Rachel Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Holly McHugh (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) launched shots on goal to give the Tigers some momentum. The Wittenberg defense stood strong, allowing only one goal in the second half. Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Umberger (Concord, NH/Derryfield School) finished with 10 saves for the game.
The Tigers host Kenyon at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the NCAC Tournament semifinals. The winners of that game and Wooster's contest against Denison the same day will meet on Saturday, Nov. 4. The highest remaining seeded team earns the right to host that game.