Rachael Radel is one of four Tiger players to start all 20 games in 2009.

Springfield, Ohio — It is becoming a habit the Wittenberg University women's soccer team could get used to. For the fourth straight year, the Tigers have earned the opportunity to play in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Tigers, fresh off a 2-1 win at home over Earlham College in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament championship game on Saturday, Nov. 7, will travel to Calvin College for a first-round game against Ohio Northern University at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13. Wittenberg brings records of 11-4-5 overall and 4-2-2 in the NCAC regular season, which was good for second place in the final standings, into the national competition.

The winner of the game between Ohio Northern and Wittenberg will play the winner of the day's second game between host Calvin and Washington & Jefferson at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, also at Calvin. The team that advances will play in the Round of 16 at a site to be determined the weekend of Nov. 20-22 against the team that emerges from a four-team bracket hosted by Augustana College.

The Tigers had an up-and-down 2009 season before finishing with two of their most complete performances in NCAC Tournament wins over Allegheny and Earlham. Wittenberg is 4-1-2 in its last seven games.

The Tigers are 0-1-3 against teams that qualified for the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament, with a loss to Transylvania and ties against NCAC regular season champion Denison, Albion and their first-round opponent Ohio Northern. Wittenberg's record in NCAA Division III Tournament play is 2-2-2, including last year's first round loss to the University of Chicago in a game played at Calvin.

The Tigers, who have posted 12 shutouts and have allowed just 11 goals in the entire 2009 season, are led offensively by Sheryl Chambers, class of 2012 from Victorville, Calif., with 15 total points, including a team-best seven goals, and Kailey Striebel, class of 2013 from Kettering, Ohio, who has a team-high three assists. Chambers has five game-winning goals on the season, while Striebel has three.

Defense is the team's trademark once again in 2009, despite the fact that Head Coach Norm Riker had to break in a new goalkeeper in Melissa Gartner, class of 2013 from Cincinnati, Ohio. All she has done is rank among the best in the NCAC and all of NCAA Division III with a 0.36 goals against average and an 86.3 saves percentage. She is protected by one of the finest defensive units in the small college game, spearheaded by two-sport standout Maggie Amorello, class of 2011 from Sutton, Mass.

Written by: Ryan Maurer
Photos by: Erin Pence

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