Katie Houchens

Emily Duh

The fairy tale perfect start to the season continued last week as Tiger field hockey team claimed two more victories to race out to a 9-0 overall record, including a 5-0 mark in the NCAC record. As a result, the Tigers continued to hold strong in the national rankings that are dominated by traditional east coast powers, moving up two spots to No. 12. Wittenberg has the most wins of any team in the poll, which was released Monday evening.

Last week, the victims were Kenyon on Tuesday by a 2-0 score and Ohio Wesleyan by a 5-0 count. Senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) continued her outstanding season with one goal against Kenyon and then four against OWU to take her total for the season to 13 in just nine games. Duh, who had a second-half hat trick against the Battling Bishops, leads the conference and ranks among the nation's best, with 13 goals and 32 total points. No other player in the NCAC has more than six goals or 13 total points. 

Against visiting Kenyon, the win was a little more difficult than the final score indicated. Duh and sophomore forward Katie Houchens (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver), who increased her season goal total to four, scored goals in the final 20 minutes of a hard-fought game. Junior forward Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) and sophomore midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) both provided assists.

On the defensive side, sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) was again outstanding as she recorded yet another shutout win. Going into the weekend, Meyer led the NCAC and ranked among the top five nationally in saves percentage.

Saturday's win over Ohio Wesleyan was yet another shutout victory for Meyer and the veteran defensive unit, which has yet to concede a goal to NCAC competition this season and allowed just three all season. Duh turned from scorer to provider for the last goal, setting up Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes).

The Tigers hope to continue their perfect start this week at Earlham in an NCAC game on Wednesday and then back home against Wooster on Friday. The Scots won the conference title a year ago and are currently alone in second place, just one game off the pace.