SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Wittenberg field hockey dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to Denison on Friday afternoon at Edwards-Maurer Field.
The loss was the first in North Coast Athletic Conference action for the Tigers, pushing them to 2-1 in league action and 3-4 overall.
Denison scored twice in the first half, taking a two-goal lead in the first seven minutes of the game before Wittenberg answered.
Freshman Riley Trexler (Louisville, Ky./Atherton) notched her third goal of the season to start the Tigers' scoring, pushing one in from an assist by freshman Carlijn van den Berg (Zwolle, The Netherlands/Thorbecke) 23 minutes into the contest.
Denison pushed its lead back to two with a score in the 65th minute, but was thwarted at many other opportunities thanks to the efforts of sophomore Laura Jansing (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) in goal. She made 12 saves to keep the Big Red in check.
The Tigers finished with five shots, led by two by Paige Vanerstrom (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and one each from Trexler, senior Megan Loofbourrow (Prospect, Ky./Ballard) and senior Casey Fry (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea).
Wittenberg is right back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 20, with a road game at Kenyon College starting at 2 p.m. in Gambier, Ohio.
John Strawn '07