Wittenberg Clinches Top Seed In Conference Playoffs, Defeats Kenyon

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers can now add the 2007 regular season North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship to their resumes, defeating Kenyon 2-1 on Tuesday night.

The Tigers gave up just one goal, coming in the 69th minute of the game on a tough shot which barely hopped over the head of senior goalkeeper and conference career shutout record holder Meghan O'Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne). It was just the sixth goal the twelfth-ranked Tigers have given up on the season, as the Tiger defense has helped O'Rourke to an astounding 0.34 goals-against-average statistic.

The Tiger goalkeeper, who picked up four saves, had the rest of her team to thank for a strong game all the way through. Her teammates found net twice to keep the Kenyon goal from mattering. Specifically, freshman back Margaret Amorello (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) started the clinching game with a Tiger goal in the first period, on a Suzanne Medwid (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) assist. What would end up being the game-winning goal came from senior midfielder Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) six minutes into the first half.

Kenyon's goal late in the second period was too little to prevent the Tigers from rolling to their 15th win, clinching homefield advantage throughout the 2007 postseason. The Tigers now stand at 15-2-1 overall and 6-0-1 in the conference. They end the regular season at Ohio Wesleyan on Friday, Oct. 26, with a gametime of 5 p.m.

Written by: John Strawn