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| Kayla O'Connor |
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| Leah Prescott |
WOOSTER, Ohio – In fitting "Senior Day" fashion, one senior tied it, and another won it in double overtime as The College of Wooster field hockey team picked up a key 2-1 win over Wittenberg University in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium.
Senior Kayla O'Connor buried the game-winner 3:53 into the second overtime, beating Wittenberg's (7-8, 5-6 NCAC) 'keeper on a cross-angled shot into the lower left corner of the cage. Sophomore Maeven Barry set-up the game-winner with her second assist of the season. Barry worked the ball down the left side of the field, before crossing it to a wide-open O'Connor in the middle.
Notable, O'Connor also scored the game-winner in Wooster's last overtime win back on Oct. 1 against Oberlin College.
Just over 10 minutes into the second half, senior Leah Prescott tallied her eighth goal of the season, taking a feed from classmate Rachel Wetzel and spinning around for the score.
Wittenberg jumped on the board quickly, with a goal 58 ticks into the contest. Sophomore 'keeper Lida LeVine saved the initial shot attempt by the Tigers, but Blaine Donnelly was able to shovel the loose ball to Audrey Coler who beat the Scots' defense for the score.
From there, the Tigers kept up their offensive pressure, and nearly made it a two-goal game with a shot clanging off the post in the sixth minute. Wooster's back line stepped up and helped ward off a pair of penalty corners and blocked a shot in the five-minute span following the Tigers' goal.
Wooster's (8-9, 6-6 NCAC) first big offensive surge came in the ninth minute with a blocked shot and a wide shot.
In the second half, Wooster continued to create scoring chances after the equalizer. Junior Lauren Abbott sparked the charge with a trio of successive shots, but Sarah Brownell turned aside the first two, prior to the third one sailing wide.
About 10 minutes later, Wooster had another big flurry with backup 'keeper Josefie Vanden Berg recorded a pair of saves before Barry, who set up the game-winner, nearly put Wooster in front, but her shot attempt clanged off the post.
Both teams had big scoring chances in the first overtime.
Wooster really found its groove offensively in the stanza, and its athleticism was on full display as the Scots recorded over one-third (10-of-27) of their shots on the day in the first overtime. Helping Wooster's cause were five penalty corners.
On the other end, Wittenberg logged five shots in the first overtime, and LeVine seamlessly made three of her nine saves on the afternoon during that period.
Wittenberg held a narrow 32-27 edge on shots for the games, while the Tigers had six more penalty corners than the Scots.
Next, Wooster hosts Denison University (12-3, 9-2 NCAC) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.