Beth Warning
RICHMOND, Ind. — The Wittenberg Tigers were forced to do it the hard way, but by the time they walked off the field the Tigers had extended their winning streak over Earlham to 37 in a row with a 1-0 victory that was determined in a second round of penalty strokes.
The win was Wittenberg's first of the 2011 season after losses at Washington & Jefferson and Denison to open the campaign. Earlham dropped to 1-2 as well.
Wittenberg has not lost to Earlham since 1992, but the Quakers didn't make things easy for the Tigers this time. The key player was Earlham's goalkeeper Emma Treece, who was credited with 19 saves in 100 minutes — two 35-minute halves and two 15-minute overtime periods — to send the game into penalty strokes. The Tigers outshot Earlham 26-8 — including a 10-1 edge in the second half alone — and attempted 16 penalty corners to the Quakers' six.
In the first round of penalty strokes, Wittenberg picked up goals from sophomore Mallory Skrobot (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) and freshman Casey Fry (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea), but Treece stopped the Tigers' other three attempts. At the other end, senior goalkeeper Jenny Schaafsma (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) was equal to the task on three of Earlham's five attempts in the first session as well, sending the penalty strokes into a second round.
Skrobot and Fry both scored again in the second round, but this time freshman Beth Warning (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) buried her attempt as well to send the Tigers home winners.
Schaafsma was credited with four saves in the game, while freshman Kelly McLean (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook South) added a clutch defensive save to keep the game scoreless. McLean led the Tigers offensively as well, recording seven shots, with junior Kellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) adding six shots.