Lauren McMahon

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's soccer team carried a three-game winning streak into a Wednesday night matchup with Ohio Northern, but the Polar Bears ended the Tigers' run with a 3-1 decision at Edwards-Maurer Field, sending the Tigers to a 3-3 overall record.

The Tigers' streak included a win over the ninth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan Titans, and all three victories came on home turf as Wittenberg overcame two road losses to start the season, including one against defending national runner-up and currently second-ranked Messiah, followed by a close 3-2 loss to Moravian.

In Wednesday night's action, Ohio Northern took an early 1-0 lead on an eighth-minute breakaway goal by Sami Atkinson. After the ensuing 40 minutes of scoreless action carried into the second period, Atkinson expanded the lead to 2-0 in the 48th minute.

The Tigers struck back with an unassisted goal by junior Kailey Striebel (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) in the 63rd minute to cut the deficit in half. Ten minutes later, Ohio Northern tacked on another score from Atkinson, who accounted for all of the Polar Bears' scoring.

The Tigers and Polar Bears both put up at least 10 shots, but both sides put less than 50 percent on goal. Tiger junior goalkeeper Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) stopped three of the six shots she faced among 13 ONU shots overall, while the Tigers put two of their 10 shots on goal.

Three of the Tigers' shots came from Striebel, joined by one each from seven other Tigers, including one shot on goal from junior defender Lauren McMahon (Loveland, Ohio/Ursuline).

A brief two-game road stint starts at Mount St. Joseph on Monday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. and continues at Earlham on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. The Tigers return home again on Sunday, Sept. 25, with a Noon matchup with Allegheny to start the North Coast Athletic Conference schedule, and the Tiger Sports Network will be covering the game with live video, live audio and live stats, all available on the Wittenberg Athletics website.

John Strawn '07