Alena Mohler
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg field hockey team improved to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a key 7-0 league victory over the visiting Earlham Quakers at Edwards-Maurer Field on Tuesday, posting their second-highest scoring total of the season.
Second only to a 12-0 rout of Trine on Sept. 21, the Tigers' offensive began with a five-goal first half keyed by two scores from freshman Audrey Phibbs (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont).
Phibbs opened the scoring by punching a loose ball into the cage just 2:13 into the match and followed it up with her second goal just 2:22 later on an assist from freshman Beth Warning (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame).
Warning went from the assist column into the scoring column for the Tigers' third goal, assisted by senior Elizabeth Dwyer (St. Louis, Mo./Ladue), who jumped columns herself with Wittenberg's fourth goal. Freshman Alena Mohler (Winston-Salem, NC/Reagan) scored the fifth Wittenberg goal from distance in the 16th minute, and both teams were quiet until the break.
In the second period, Wittenberg picked up two more goals from Dwyer, who notched her second hat trick of the season following a four-goal outing in the game against Trine. The first came on an assist from Warning, who finished the match with four points.
In the cage, the Tigers split goalkeeping time between seniors Jenny Schaafsma (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and Alyssa Ashbaugh (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls). Schaafsma earned the victory with two saves in the first half, while Ashbaugh took over for the conclusion and stopped three shots. At the other end, Earlham keeper Emma Treece made 20 saves as the Tigers peppered the cage with 38 total shots.
The starting defensive unit of Mohler, freshman Jenny Pampreen (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills) and sophomore Mallory Skrobot (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) anchored a team effort that limited Earlham to just six shots and three penalty corners in the match.
The Tigers head to Delaware, Ohio, this Thursday to try and win the the season series with the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University at 6:30 p.m. Wittenberg took the first meeting 2-0 in Springfield on Sept. 17. Watch the rematch online via a live video broadcast by Ohio Wesleyan Sports Information at stream.owu.edu.
John Strawn '07