DELAWARE, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's lacrosse team went to Ohio Wesleyan needing a win Wednesday night in order to have a shot at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, but the Battling Bishops dealt the Tigers a final blow to their postseason hopes in an 18-16 loss.
Over the previous two games, Wittenberg had scored only two goals in the second half, but on Wednesday played much more evenly with eight goals in each half. After taking an 8-7 lead to halftime, the Tigers were outscored 11-8 in the closing period. After a 14-all tie with 14 minutes remaining in the second, the Bishops scored the next three to open a 17-14 advantage. Wittenberg answered with two straight, but Ohio Wesleyan scored the last goal for the final margin.
Overall, Wittenberg outshot the Bishops 38-36, while draw controls were evenly split at 18-18. Those numbers typify what was a closely fought affair, as the Tigers and Bishops were within two of each other in every major statistical category.
Junior attacker Maggie Amorello (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) paced the Tigers offensively with five goals and two assists, both team highs. Sophomore attacker Jenn Close (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scored four times on five shots, picked up three groundballs and won two draw controls for a well-rounded line.
Senior midfielder Joelle Ghanem (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) found the net three times and also assisted once, while leading the team in groundballs with four, draw controls with seven and caused turnovers with three. Sophomore defenderJessica Mead (Columbus, Ohio/The Wellington School) and junior midfielderJordan Beauchamp (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) both scored one goal.
Senior Bonnie Kenney (Lutherville, Md./Park School) spent 43 minutes in front of the net and made 10 saves, while sophomore Jenny Schaafsma (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) stopped two shots in almost 17 minutes in goal.
The loss wraps up NCAC action for Wittenberg with one non-conference game remaining, a 4 p.m. matchup with St. Vincent at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield.
Written by: John Strawn '07