Lindsey Rusch

The Wittenberg women's soccer team is off to an outstanding start to the 2004 season, but the meat of the schedule is still ahead, starting Saturday at undefeated perennial powerhouse Wooster. The Tigers are off to a 5-0-3 start to the campaign, including a mark of 4-0-1 against teams from the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Tigers opened the season with a 3-1 win over Muskingum, followed by a championship in the Ohio Northern Classic, in which Wittenberg defeated Ohio Northern 1-0 and then tied Otterbein 1-1. Then came a 1-0 win over Capital and a road trip to Indiana in which the Tigers, now ranked in the top 10 in the region, tied Rose-Hulman and nationally ranked DePauw. In the last week, Wittenberg upended Mount Union 4-1 and Mount St. Joseph 2-0.

On the season, Wittenberg has outscored its opponents 14-5 overall, with 11 of the Tigers' goals scored by freshmen. Leading the way is freshman Lisa Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) with four goals and 10 total points. Freshman Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) checks in second with seven total points, all scored off the bench.

Defensively, the Tigers are allowing less than a goal per game, on average, with freshman goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) already credited with four shutouts on the season. She ranks among the NCAC leaders in goals against average (0.58). She has been protected by a stellar corps of defensive players, led by senior captain Meredith Belser (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay).

The Tigers are back at it in a key NCAC match-up on Saturday at Wooster, which is also unbeaten this year, and then they return to non-conference play for a tough game against nationally ranked Wilmington on Tuesday, Sept. 28.