News Release
NCAC Women's Soccer Roundup - Oct. 21
RACE FOR NCAC CHAMPIONSHIP GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE
The outcome of one of the most competitive season�s of North Coast Athletic Conference women�s soccer won�t be determined until the final day of the regular season as six teams enter the final week of the season with at least an outside shot at the championship. Also up for grabs are the four spots in the season-ending NCAC Tournament, contested to decide the conference�s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Wittenberg (5-0-1, 14-2-1) enters the week as the NCAC�s only unbeaten team in conference play. The Tigers have a narrow four-point advantage in the standings and look to strengthen that lead with a pair of road games. The Tigers travel to fifth-place (tie) Kenyon (3-2-1, 8-5-2) on Tuesday and to third-place (tie) Ohio Wesleyan (3-1-2, 8-4-4) on Friday. Wittenberg has never won an NCAC championship in women�s soccer, although the Tigers did claim their first NCAC Tourney title last fall.
Earlham (4-2-0, 12-3-1) sits in second place � a mere point ahead of the two teams tied for third and two points ahead of the three teams tied for fifth. The Quakers are gunning for their first women�s soccer title, as well as their first conference tournament berth. Earlham hosts third-place (tie) Denison (3-1-2, 10-4-2) on Wednesday and then travels to fifth-place (tie) Wooster (3-2-1, 11-4-1) on Saturday.
Ohio Wesleyan shares third place with Denison. The Battling Bishops and Big Red are also in the hunt for the league title. Ohio Wesleyan leads all NCAC teams with eight championships, the last coming in 2004; Denison is not far behind with six, the last coming in 2005. Ohio Wesleyan will host Wooster on Wednesday in addition to the Bishops� contest with Wittenberg on Friday. Denison closes out its week at home against eighth-place (tie) Hiram (0-6-0, 8-9-0) on Saturday. The Big Red also play at Earlham earlier in the week.
Wooster, Kenyon and Allegheny (3-3-1, 5-7-2) enter the week tied for fifth. The Fighting Scots and the defending champion Ladies are mathematically in the running for the NCAC title as they each have two games left to play � they would each have the opportunity to earn six points with a pair of wins. However, clinching the championship would involve losses by the teams above them in the standings and hopes to win any tiebreakers with current champion Wittenberg. Allegheny has only one game left on its schedule; the best possible finish for the Gators would be second. Wooster, Kenyon and Allegheny are also in the hunt for one of the four conference tournament berths. Wooster plays at Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday and hosts Earlham on Saturday. Kenyon hosts Wittenberg on Tuesday and then returns home to face Allegheny on Saturday.
Oberlin (0-7-0, 2-11-1) and Hiram enter the final week of the season with a goal of their own � each team is in the hunt for its first NCAC win of the fall. The Yeowomen and Terriers meet in Hiram on Wednesday.
Polls: Wittenberg is ranked 12th and Denison 24th in the national NSCAA/adidas poll. The Tigers are first in the Great Lakes Region, followed by the Big Red in third and Ohio Wesleyan in sixth. Kenyon received votes in the poll. D3Kicks.com ranks Wittenberg 24th in their national Top 25. Denison received votes in the poll.
Notes:
ALLEGHENY posted back-to-back victories over Hiram, 1-0, and Oberlin, 3-1, before falling to first-place Wittenberg, 1-0. Junior Katie Murphy (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) scored twice in the win over Oberlin, becoming the first Gator to score multiple goals in a single game this season. She leads Allegheny with five goals and is tied for the team lead with 10 points. Ashley Miller (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) scored Allegheny�s only goal in the win over Hiram ...
DENISON and Ohio Wesleyan played to a scoreless tie, the second for the Big Red in the past seven days. The tie gave each of the teams a share of third place in the NCAC standings. Denison opened its week with a 1-0 win over Wooster, thanks to the fifth goal of the season from junior Sarah Ash (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore). Senior goalkeeper Liz Gillette (Chardon, OH/NDCL) is working a string of three consecutive shutouts; she has 35 for her career. Gillette posted five saves in the double-overtime tie against Ohio Wesleyan and two in the win over Wooster. This fall, she has made 45 saves and has a 0.60 goals against average ...
EARLHAM celebrated Homecoming by establishing a new standard with its 6-3 win over Hiram. The victory was the Quakers� 12th of the season, the most since the 1999 squad picked up 11 victories. Earlham has also found the back of the net a school-record 45 times this season, topping the old mark of 40 goals set in 1999. Junior Maddie Daskovsky (Evanston, IL/Evanston), sophomore Callie Thompson (Louisville, KY/Dupont Manual) and freshman Karman Duchon (Decatur, GA/Decatur) scored two goals apiece in the victory. Daskovsky and Duchon also recorded two assists apiece giving Duchon 11 for the season which ties Lacy Berns� school record (set in 1999). The Quakers opened the week with a 3-0 loss to Wittenberg, which snapped Earlham�s four-game win streak ...
Freshman Claire Connor (Aurora, OH/Aurora) scored twice in a 6-3 loss to Earlham to break the HIRAM single-season goal scoring record. She has 13 goals this season, surpassing the previous mark of 11, posted by Megan Crum during the 2004 campaign. Connor passed Crum for the single-season points record with 29 points off 13 goals and three assists. Crum turned in 28 points in 2004. Hiram also dropped a 1-0 decision to Allegheny last week ...
KENYON pitched two shutouts last week courtesy of a solid defensive effort and stellar goalkeeping. The Ladies knocked off Oberlin, 2-0 and Case Western Reserve, 1-0. Senior �keeper Rosie Davis (Decatur, GA/Decatur) made a combined nine saves to post her sixth and seventh shutouts of the season. Davis has not allowed a goal in the Ladies� last 283 minutes of play ...
Junior Leah McElhatton (Rocklin, CA/Rocklin) scored OBERLIN�S lone goal last week. The Yeowomen fell to Kenyon, 2-0, Allegheny, 3-1, and Wooster, 3-0 ...
OHIO WESLEYAN battled Denison to a scoreless double-overtime tie last week. Denison enjoyed a 6-2 edge in shots during the first half, but OWU freshman goalie Laura VanHoey (Rochester, MI/Rochester) recorded three saves to keep the Big Red off the scoreboard. The Bishops had a 5-3 advantage in shots in the second half, but couldn�t find the back of the net. VanHoey finished with five saves as the Big Red out shot the Bishops, 12-8. The tie ensured that Ohio Wesleyan and Denison enter the coming week tied for third ...
WITTENBERG �keeper Meghan O�Rourke (Columbus, OH/Worthington Kilbourne) added a pair of shutouts to her NCAC career shutout record � she now has 44 after blanking Earlham, 3-0, and Allegheny, 1-0, last week. O�Rourke owes a huge thanks to senior defender Rachel Morgan (Cincinnati, OH/Colerain) after Morgan cleared a ball from the penalty box in the second half of the win over Allegheny. O�Rourke and an Allegheny forward tangled up at the top of the 18-yard box and ended up on the ground. Morgan recovered to force the ball back up field. Wittenberg has posted a school-record 14 shutouts this season, bettering the team mark of 13 set each of the past two years ...
WOOSTER head coach David �Geordie� Brown notched his 200th career win when the Scots defeated Oberlin, 3-0. He has posted a 200-99-23 (.657) record over his 17 seasons at Wooster and is the winningest coach in Scots women�s soccer history. Junior forward Letitia Clark (West Chester, PA/George School) recorded her first career two-goal game to help Wooster to the victory, raising her season total to five goals, also a career high. The Scots opened the week with a 1-0 loss to Denison.
-NCAC-
Submitted 2007-10-21 17:27:50 by North Coast Athletic Conference Sports Information Department
