Beth Warning
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg's field hockey team rounded out the 2011 regular season on a sour note, losing a 2-0 decision to visiting Wooster to finish 9-8 overall and 7-6 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).
The bright side for the Tigers is that the season is going to be extended as they qualified for the NCAC Tournament. Wittenberg will be the fourth seed in the annual competition and will travel to top-seeded Denison on Wednesday, Nov. 2. The Big Red beat Wittenberg twice in 2011, but both final scorelines were 1-0, including an overtime win over the Tigers in Springfield on Oct. 11.
Wooster, the defending NCAC Tournament champion after finishing second to Wittenberg in the 2010 regular season standings, earned the No. 3 seed with records of 9-9 overall and 8-6 in the conference. The Scots will travel to DePauw for a semifinal match-up on Wednesday.
The Scots were unable to parlay an 8-6 advantage in shots and a 12-3 advantage in penalty corners in the first half into a halftime lead as the two teams finished the opening 35 minutes in a scoreless draw. However, Wooster scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal just 1:04 into the second half and then added an insurance tally at the 53:05 mark.
For the game, Wooster outshot the Tigers 18-10 and attempted 16 penalty corners to seven for Wittenberg. Senior goalkeeper Jenny Schaafsma (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) turned in a typically strong game, recording 11 saves. Junior Katie Warner (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy) chipped in a defensive save as well.
Offensively, freshman Beth Warning (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) led with four shots, while freshman Audrey Phibbs (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) added three.