Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg University women’s soccer team has new life after the Tigers were selected to compete in the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament. The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season champions will start the tournament with a first round game against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at Wheaton College (Ill.).
The selection is the fifth in Wittenberg women’s soccer history, all since 2006. Unlike the four-year run from 2006-09, when Wittenberg won four consecutive NCAC Tournament titles, the 2012 berth comes as one of 20 at-large (Pool C) bids after the Tigers suffered a 2-1 loss in the NCAC Tournament semifinals to DePauw on Nov. 1.
Wittenberg enters the national competition with an overall record of 11-4-3, including a 7-0-1 mark in the NCAC regular season. Wisconsin-Whitewater claimed the automatic bid from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) after posting an overall record of 15-4-1 and winning the league’s tournament.
The winner of the game between Wittenberg and Wisconsin-Whitewater will play the winner of the day’s first game between host Wheaton, the 2011 national runner-up, and Webster University at a time to be determined on Saturday, Nov. 10, also at Wheaton. The team that advances will play in the Round of 16 at a site to be determined the weekend of Nov. 16-18 against the team that emerges from a four-team bracket hosted by Trinity (Texas).
The Tigers played an extremely challenging schedule in 2012, entering the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 3-3-1 record against other teams in the field. Wittenberg defeated DePauw, Ohio Northern and Transylvania, lost to Thomas More, Frostburg State and DePauw, and tied Carnegie Mellon during the regular season.
Wittenberg’s record in NCAA Division III Tournament play is 3-3-2. The Tigers’ last national tournament appearance in 2009 included a 3-1 win over Ohio Northern and a 1-0 loss to host Calvin.
The Tigers are one of the top defensive teams in the nation with 11 shutouts and just 10 goals allowed in the entire 2012 season. The senior goalkeeping tandem of Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) and Cassie Lythjohan (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) has combined for a 0.54 goals against average while saving 89 percent of their opponents’ shots on goal.
Offensively, the Tigers’ leader is senior Kailey Striebel (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), who ranks third in Wittenberg history for career goals and total points. She ranks second in goals (6) and total points (13), both one behind junior Kayla Murphy (Dayton, Ohio/Stebbins), who has scored four game-winning goals in her first season in the Red & White.
Written By: Ryan Maurer
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