MEADVILLE, Pa. — A second-half charge and a game-tying goal with less than 30 seconds to play gave Wittenberg new life in a key North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) game at Allegheny, but the Gators scored two goals against Wittenberg's one to hand the Tigers a 12-11 loss.
The loss, coming in the Tigers' final regular season match, drops Wittenberg from a potential second-place finish to a lock at No. 4 for both the regular season and the upcoming NCAC tournament, which kicks off Thursday, April 28. The Tigers will head to Granville, Ohio, to take on the first-place Denison Big Red.
The Tigers finish the season tied for fourth in the regular season standings with Kenyon, but will advance to the four-team tournament by virtue of a 16-12 win over the Ladies in Springfield on April 6. The tournament winner is awarded the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Denison topped Wooster and claimed the outright NCAC regular season title in other Saturday action. Wooster's loss drops them into a second-place tie with Allegheny (4-2), and the Gators grab the two-seed thanks to a win in their meeting with the Scots.
The Tigers found themselves in a 7-2 hole after one half, but mounted a tremendous 8-3 comeback in the second half, capped with just 21 seconds to go by a game-tying goal from freshman Francine Murzynski (Mentor, Ohio/Lake Catholic)
The Tigers kept the pressure on with the first goal in overtime from sophomoreKellen Morrissey (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill), but Allegheny scored the next two in succession and successfully held the ball for the final 1:54 of the period to close the game.
Wittenberg's big second half comeback started with five straight goals to open the period. Junior Jenn Close (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) took a feed from seniorMaggie Amorello (Sutton, Mass./Worcester Academy) for the first and Amorello herself found the net for the second. Sophomore Erin Guiliano (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) scored the third on a free position before Close found Morrissey for the fourth, and senior Jordan Beauchamp (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern)scored the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.
Allegheny scored three of the next four, but Beauchamp answered to make it 10-9 and set up Murzynski's equalizer.
Beauchamp led all Tigers with four goals, followed by Murzynski and Morrissey with two each. Close, Amorello and Guiliano all scored once. Murzynski and Guiliano split the team lead in ground balls with three apiece, while Murzynski was alone in the lead with four draw controls.
Sophomore Katie Warner (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy) led a hard-working defense that secured many of the opportunities the offense converted on.
John Strawn '07