DELAWARE, Ohio – Picking up their 30th consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference victory to close out a fourth-straight undefeated regular season in the conference, the Wittenberg Tigers earned the outright NCAC championship with a dominant 20-8 win at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday.
The Tigers, winners of their second NCAC title since the regular season and tournament championships were separated prior to the start of the 2014 season, now enter the league tournament scheduled to start with semifinals on Wednesday, April 29. Unofficially, they match up with fourth-seed Oberlin, which holds a fourth-place tiebreaker with Kenyon by virtue of a 13-11 victory today in Gambier, Ohio. Wooster, at 7-1 for second place, and Denison, at 6-2, will square off in Wooster, Ohio, in the other semifinal.
The result for Wittenberg at Ohio Wesleyan was contested through much of the first half as the Battling Bishops held the Tigers to a 12-7 lead at halftime. In the second half, however, a single OWU goal to open the period gave way to an avalanche of offense from Wittenberg, which rattled off the last eight goals of the game.
Sophomore Becca Joseph (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) tied the third-place points mark in single-game school records yet again and did it for the first time in the assists record with a five goal, five assist performance today. Not to be overshadowed, senior Logan Warye (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) and junior Carrie Kubasta (Medina, Ohio/Medina) topped the scoring column with six goals each. Warye added two assists and Kubasta one.
The offensive efforts were fairly focused as the only other scorer was senior Beth Hubbard (West Hartford, Conn./Notre Dame de Sion (Mo.)), who finished with three goals and two assists. Senior Megan Loofbourrow (Prospect, Ky./Ballard) chalked up an assist.
Away from the Bishops' goal, Kubasta led the possession battle with four ground balls, followed by Loofbourrow, freshman Haley Dannemiller (Cleves, Ohio/Mother of Mercy), sophomore Haley Schroeder (Granville, Ohio/Granville) and junior goalkeeper Katie Reuter (Cleveland, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) with three each. Warye won eight draw controls and Kubasta caused three turnovers.
Reuter played all 60 minutes in goal and stopped three Ohio Wesleyan shots.
The win to close out the conference schedule gives the senior class of Loofbourrow, Warye, Hubbard and Mary Ann White (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) the unusual bragging rights of going 30-0 in conference competition over the span of their careers.
John Strawn '07