SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's lacrosse team built a 4-1 lead early in a Saturday game versus the College of Wooster, but the Fighting Scots tied the Tigers late in the first half and went ahead in the second to hand Wittenberg an 11-8 loss.
The Tigers fall to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while the Scots remain undefeated in conference action at 4-0 and 8-2 overall.
Despite the loss, senior midfielder Joelle Ghanem (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) delivered a highlight as she assisted on six goals, tying the Tiger record held by former head coach Kati Robbins. Ghanem nearly broke the record, if not for a pivotal Wittenberg goal that was overturned by the officials in the first half, a goal on which she would have provided the assist.
After Wooster opened the scoring just 1:45 into the first half, the Tigers fired back with four straight goals and would have had five if not for the overturned goal. After the Tigers apparently scored a goal, the officials waved it off and returned the ball to Wooster. The Scots' Amy Denny then ran coast-to-coast and scored to bring it to 4-3.
The Tigers still held the lead, however, until Wooster made it 6-6 with 8:21 left in the opening period. The final minutes passed without any scoring. Wittenberg regained the lead with a goal just 1:10 into the second half, but Wooster scored the next four.
After Wooster's run gave them a 10-7 lead over the Tigers, each team scored one more to reach the final line.
A trio of Tigers led the way with two goals each, including sophomore attackerJenn Close (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), sophomore defender Jessica Mead (Columbus, Ohio/The Wellington School) and sophomore attacker Krissy Battles (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood). Ghanem provided all but one of the team's seven assists, with Maggie Amorello (Sutton, Mass/Worcester Academy) taking credit for the other.
Freshman midfielder Erin Guiliano (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) paced the roster with three draw controls, Amorello led with three ground balls, and Ghanem caused four turnovers.
The Tigers will fight to get back to even in the NCAC with a 5 p.m. road match with Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday, April 21.
Written by: John Strawn '07