Lisa Rusch

The Wittenberg women's soccer team had some momentum going into the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, but the Tigers, part of a three-way tie for second place in the regular season standings, fell in the semifinals at nationally ranked Denison, 2-1. 

The Tigers, who started the season 8-0, fell to 14-5 overall with the loss after posting a 5-3 mark in the NCAC regular season. Wittenberg now awaits the decision of the NCAA Division III Tournament selection committee, which will announce the brackets for the national competition on Sunday night. The Tigers, who have never reached the national tournament, are one of several regionally ranked teams around the country hoping for an at-large berth.

Before losing to Denison, the Tigers won back-to-back 2-0 decisions against Hiram and Wooster on Oct. 22 and 29 to gain entry into the four-team event. A loss in either game would have knocked the Tigers out of the NCAC Tournament.

Sophomore forward Lisa Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) is the Tigers' leading scorer for the second straight year with six goals, five assists and 17 total points. The only other player to reach double figures in points for the defensive-minded Tigers was sophomore midfielder Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland), who finished the regular season with five goals and 11 total points.

Rounding out the offense, sophomore forward Sydney Bates (Loveland, Ohio/Milford) scored three goals, and all of them were game-winners. Bates and Rusch shared team honors in game-winning goals. Bates was named NCAC Player of the Week for her game-winning score against Wooster.

The Tigers allowed just 10 goals all season as sophomore goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) spearheaded a defense that recorded a school-record 13 shutouts, bettering the mark of 11 set in 1995 and equalled a year ago.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results pageand season statistics page.