SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg women's soccer team opened the 2004 season on a strong note with a 3-1 home victory over Muskingum College.

Five freshmen and four sophomores started the game for the Tigers, and several more underclassmen contributed off the bench. The many newcomers seemed to mesh well with the veteran holdovers, as the team's passing and ballhandling was crisp for most of the 90 minutes and action was dominated by Wittenberg pretty much throughout the game.

Offensively, Lisa Rusch was the star of the game for Wittenberg as she pounded home the first two goals of the game, her first as a collegian. The first one came with 16:49 remaining in the first half on a long shot from outside the penalty box that hit the crossbar, bounded straight down and into the corner of the Muskingum net. Her second tally came eight minutes into the second half off a feed from junior Emily Hiscar.

After Muskingum pulled to within one on a goal by Elisabeth Pittinger midway through the second half, the Tigers regained their two-goal cushion on a score by freshman Amanda Farrell off a feed from freshman Sydney Bates inside of the seven-minute mark.

The Tigers dominated the first half, keeping almost all of the action in the Muskingum end, and in the second half, with the exception of a few flurries midway through the final 45 minutes, Wittenberg also maintained control. Freshman goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke was solid in her first collegiate game as she turned away four Muskingum shots and made several fine plays around the net. She was aided on one corner play by freshman Lindsey Rusch, who blocked a shot from close range that could have tied the game.

Muskingum played two goalkeepers in the game, and they combined for 14 saves on a whopping 23 Wittenberg shots. The Tigers had a similar advantage in corner kicks (8-4).