Abby Szlactha

Abby Szlachta scored three times over a 2:41 spurt to pull The College of Wooster within two (13-11) midway through the second half, but rival Wittenberg University closed the game on a 5-1 scoring run to power past the Fighting Scots, 18-12, on Wednesday evening in a battle between teams that entered without a blemish in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Springfield, Ohio.

Although a win would have resulted in their first NCAC Championship since 2010, the Scots (13-3, 7-1 NCAC) have locked up the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament, and will host a semifinal game next Wednesday, April 29.

Wittenberg (10-3, 7-0 NCAC) scored the game's first goal just 28 seconds after the opening whistle, but Wooster shook it off and recorded the next three tallies, including two from Szlachta off free-position shots, which gave the Scots a 3-1 edge about six minutes into the first half.

The momentum then shifted back to the Tigers, who fired in four in a row to take their own two-goal lead, 5-3.

The rest of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, as Wooster and Wittenberg took turns matching each other goal for goal up to the break. During the final moments of the stanza, Ellie Hudson-Heck pumped in her 50th tally of the spring to cut Wooster's deficit to 8-7, only to see the Tigers answer back with 1:19 left on the clock to regain a two-score advantage (9-7) going into halftime.

Wittenberg seemingly took control of the game with a three-goal run to start the second half, but Wooster responded with three of its own in just 1:11 of play to pull back within two at 12-10. The Tigers interrupted the Scots' rally to go up 13-10, and then Szlachta delivered her career-high fifth goal of the game to once again cut the home team's buffer to just two (13-11).

Over the last 15:26, Wooster attempted seven shots, with team scoring leader Shelby Stone taking four of them, but only a late free-position shot from Michaela Lawrence got past Wittenberg goalkeeper Katie Reuter – who made six of her game-high nine saves in the second half.

Meanwhile, Wittenberg slowly pulled away, using its aforementioned 5-1 scoring run to defeat the Scots in what was a highly-competitive battle between rivals.

Some noteworthy statistics include Hudson-Heck's nine draw controls and six groundballs, while Wynn Boehmcke tied a career-high with four caused turnovers and 'keeper Isabel Perman made seven saves.