Jenny Burns
The 2005 Wittenberg University women's lacrosse team is off to a solid start to the season, and as the Tigers make the turn and head for the home stretch, optimism abounds that this young group has a chance to do some damage in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Most recently, the Tigers dropped a 14-10 decision to St. Vincent, an NAIA scholarship program, in their home opener on Saturday. The Tigers got off to a solid start, taking a 6-4 lead midway through the first half, but St. Vincent rallied with a 9-2 spurt to take command of the game.
Wittenberg was paced by senior Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who scored four times and added an assist. Sophomores Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman)and Michelle Hanners (New Albany, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) added two goals apiece and freshman Amber Cupples (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) had a three-point night with a goal and two assists.
The Tigers doubled their win total from the 2004 season after a 16-11 win at Notre Dame College (Ohio). Freshman Emine Cirpili (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) had her first four-goal game to lead the offense, and Burns ran the attack well with two goals and four assists. In combination with her performance against St. Vincent, Burns was named NCAC Player of the Week.
Rounding things out, Hanners and Thomas added two goals and two assists each, junior Emily Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) finished with one goal and two assists, sophomore Melissa Jackson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) chipped in with three scores and Cupples rounded things out with one goal and one assist.
Win No. 3 on the season came against the College of Notre Dame in a hard-fought 12-10 decision at Kenyon College. Jackson scored a career-high tying six goals to lead the offense, while Thomas and Burns added two goals apiece. In goal, sophomore Clare Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) was solid, turning away 12 Notre Dame shots to preserve the victory for Wittenberg.
To cap things in this report, the Tigers lost a pair of hard-fought, evenly-played road games on March 19 and 20, 12-8 at Lynchburg and 8-7 at Bridgewater.
Thomas led with three goals and one assist at Bridgewater. Jackson led the Tigers against Lynchburg with three goals and one assist in the game.
For the season, the Tigers are getting offensive production from a variety of players, led by Jackson with 21 goals and 25 total points. Thomas has 18 goals, seven assists and 25 total points and Burns is right behind with 17 goals and 11 assists for 28 total points. All three are on pace to more than double their 2004 totals in goals, assists and points.