SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Eleven days after opening the 2009 season with a disappointing 3-2 home loss to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Denison, the Wittenberg Tigers picked themselves up and salvaged a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over visiting NCAC rival Kenyon.
As a result, the Tigers evened their overall and conference records at 1-1, heading into the first non-conference game of the campaign against Lindenwood at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13. Kenyon dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC.
Just as Denison rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Wittenberg in the Sept. 1 opener, the Tigers pulled out a similar victory against Kenyon. Junior forward Boo Vernon (Lake Bluff, Ill./Cushing Academy) got the Tigers on the board with what may well have been the play of the game, as she made a steal at midfield, dribbled toward the Kenyon goal and then beat the keeper and just dribbled into the cage at the 28:37 mark.
Vernon evened the score with a goal just over a minute into the second half. Junior defender Meredith Price (Highland Park, Ill./North Shore Country Day) played a ball in to Vernon, who struck a hard shot past the Kenyon keeper.
Wittenberg pulled ahead on a goal by junior midfielder Kelley Herde (Louisville, Ky./Assumption). Her shot off a rebound at the 50:10 mark, however, was equalled less than a minute later by Kenyon.
That set up what turned out to be a brief 7-on-7 overtime period. Unlike last year, when Kenyon took a double overtime win in Springfield en route to a season sweep of the Tigers, Wittenberg got the best of things. After the Ladies missed out on a penalty corner chance, the Tigers made the most of theirs. Price took a feed from Vernon at the 72:44 mark and ended things with a solid shot past a rushing Kenyon keeper.