WILMINGTON, Ohio - Playing deep into a cool autumn night, the visiting Wittenberg Tigers came away with a hard-fought 1-1 tie with perennial Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouse Wilmington. The tie for Wittenberg was a school-record fourth on the year, as the Tigers moved to 6-0-4, while Wilmington went to 6-3-1 overall and concluded regular season nonconference play for the 2004 season.

Both teams came out physical, fighting for every loose ball and committing fouls - 41 of them in all by game's end. In addition, four yellow cards - two on each side - were doled out in an effort to keep play under control.

Wilmington was able to find the back of the net first as Emily Bulach scored unassisted in the 15th minute of the first half from the left side, as she beat the Tiger freshman goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke to the far post. But Wittenberg found the equalizer in the 33rd minute when sophomore defensive back Lauren Fraley scored from 40 yards out off a corner kick. From there the teams would battle through a physical second half and two overtimes.

O'Rourke made six saves and Wilmington was credited with a total of 10 shots in the game. The Wilmington goalkeepers were given seven saves, while Wittenberg directed a total of 14 shots in the direction of the Quaker goal.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday at Allegheny in a key North Coast Athletic Conference match-up. The Gators are annually one of the top teams in the conference and have dominated play with Wittenberg in recent years, so the game figures to be a big one for the young Tigers as they measure themselves against the best teams in the conference.