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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg women's soccer team added a Saturday game to their schedule, turning back Allegheny 1-0 Wednesday night in a North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game to advance to the championship match for the fourth straight year. The Tigers will face Earlham at 6 p.m. at Edwards-Maurer Field for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Gators arrived in Springfield remembering their last visit, a 0-0 double overtime tie on Saturday, Oct. 24. Allegheny has not scored on the Tigers since 2003, playing over 700 minutes of scoreless soccer in seven games against Wittenberg. That trend held true again Wednesday, as the Tigers held the visitors to 11 shots. Freshman goalkeeper Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) guarded the net with five saves to seal the win.
The first half came and went without any offensive success for either team, but the second half was only five minutes old when sophomore forward Taylor Goss (Sandy Spring, Md./Friends School) took control of a loose ball just yards away from the Allegheny goal. Facing away and with no opportunity to turn the ball around, she played it back to freshman forward Kailey Striebel (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) near the top of the box. Her shot off the left foot connected for the game-winning goal to send her and her teammates to the championsip game.
The Tigers made their sixth appearance in the NCAC Tournament with Wednesday's win, and are hoping to make their fourth straight NCAA appearance. In 2008, the Tigers met Allegheny in the semifinals as well, and that time Allegheny returned the favor by keeping the game a scoreless tie through two overtimes. Wittenberg advanced to the championship game thanks to a 4-2 advantage in a penalty kick shootout, and ultimately went on to win their third straight NCAC Tournament title.
Fourth-seeded Earlham comes to Springfield after taking No. 1-seed Denison by surprise in a 1-0 semifinal match on Tuesday night. The Tigers took a 1-0 decision at Earlham earlier this year on Oct. 20.
Written by: John Strawn '07