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The Wittenberg women's soccer team enjoyed a breakthrough of sorts in 2004, posting an 11-4-5 overall record with three of the four losses coming against nationally ranked opponents. The Tigers finished third in the rugged North Coast Athletic Conference with a 5-3 record before taking runner-up honors in the NCAC Tournament by defeating nationally ranked Denison in a semifinals shootout and losing to nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan by one goal in the title match.
Now the hard part. The Tigers must prove that 2004 was no fluke by carrying their winning ways forward into 2005.
That task is made considerably more realistic by the presence of 15 returning letterwinners, including eight starters. The Tigers are loaded with young talent, spread evenly between offense and defense, and the roster will be bolstered by a recruiting class that numbers 12.
The Tigers' hallmark in 2004 was defense, as opponents managed just 14 goals in 20 games. Wittenberg recorded a school-record 11 shutouts during a season in which the Tigers also had a school-record five ties.
The defensive backfield took some hits in the offseason, but plenty of talent returns, starting with sophomore goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/ Worthington Kilbourne), who made 17 starts and allowed 13 goals. She recorded eight of the team's shutouts and ranked among the NCAC leaders with a 0.72 goals against average and a saves percentage of 83.5.
Junior Jamie McIntyre (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) is the cornerstone of what is expected to be another outstanding defensive unit in front of O'Rourke. She has started every game the last two years and was honored for her fine play with NCAC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference and all-region awards in 2004.
Offensively, the Tigers return all of their top scorers, led by sophomore midfielderLisa Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), sophomore forwardAmanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) and junior forward Liz Volz (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton), who scored 21, nine and five points respectively in 2004. Rusch was an All-NCAC and All-Great Lakes Region honoree after leading the Tigers with eight goals, five assists and 21 total points.
Volz, who missed almost the entire 2003 season with an injury, was a full-time starter on the forward line in 2004, and she will be joined again by sophomoreSydney Bates (Loveland, Ohio/Milford), who scored twice in 20 starts last year, and Farrell, who started five games late in the season.
In the midfield, Rusch teamed up with twin sister Lindsey and senior Emily Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) to form an outstanding ball-control trio. Lindsey Rusch scored a goal and added two assists in 2004, while Hiscar, who has multiple All-NCAC designations in both soccer and lacrosse, was second on the team with four assists in 2004. Hiscar will be a team captain for a second straight season and a starter for a fourth straight year in 2005.