SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers opened the university's Homecoming Weekend festivities with a 5-2 win against North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) foe Earlham.
After starting the season with seven straight losses while playing a challenging schedule, the Tigers have responded well to a must-win situation, winning their third straight league game to improve to 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the NCAC.
The rain stopped just as the teams took the field on an overcast Friday afternoon. The Tigers didn't let the damp weather conditions put a damper on their offense, however, as they jumped out to an early 4-2 lead by halftime.
Wittenberg started the scoring just five minutes into the game with an unassisted goal in the fifth minute by freshman Blaine Donnelly (Hanover, Md./Archbishop Spalding), who knocked in a rebound after a goalie save. The Tigers followed the Donnelly goal with their second goal of the game after sophomore Audrey Coler (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) found the back of the cage in the 13th minute.
Wittenberg kept up the pressure as the Tigers scored two more times in just a two-minute span. In the 21st minute, sophomore Brighid Kortnya (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) sent a ball through to senior Emma Foster (Westbury, NY/W.T. Clarke), who put it home. This was followed quickly by an unassisted goal by senior Paige Vanerstrom (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) in the 22nd minute.
Earlham answered, however, with two quick goals of their own time expired in the first half. Coming out of the half, the Tigers took control again, although they only scored once more over the final 35 minutes as Coler scored off an assist by junior Michelle Murray (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny).
The final shot count was a dominating 34-5 in Wittenberg's favor. The penalty corners were 16-5 in favor of the Tigers.
At halftime, the Tiger field hockey team recognized the alumnae who returned to campus for Homecoming Weekend, including members of the 2005 and 2010 NCAC Championship teams and 2015 Hall of Honor inductee Sara Hamilton.