Wooster Advances to NCAC Tournament Title Game

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first 19:08 of play and hung on to defeat visiting Wittenberg University in the teams' semifinal meeting in the North Coast Athletic Conference Field Hockey Tournament Wednesday afternoon, as the top-seeded Fighting Scots prevailed 3-2 at Cindy Barr Memorial Field.

Wooster will host third-seeded Kenyon College, which upended Ohio Wesleyan University 2-1 in Wednesday's other semifinal, on Saturday in the conference tourney championship game at 2 p.m., and that winner will receive the NCAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III Tournament.

In the first half, the Scots (15-5) kept the ball on Wittenberg's side of the field for nearly all 35 minutes, holding an 18-5 advantage in shots and 8-4 in penalty corners. Junior Amanda Artman got Wooster on the board first when she converted a penalty stroke with 27:08 remaining in the opening stanza for her 26th goal of the season. However, Wittenberg (11-8) knotted the score just 8:29 later when Kelley Herde tapped in a ball off a scramble in front of the Wooster cage.

A little over three minutes later, Stephanie Standera took a shot that was saved by Wittenberg goalkeeper Alyssa Ashbaugh, but the Tiger defense couldn't clear the ball and Elizabeth Dwyer gained possession three yards out and blasted in her sixth goal of the campaign.

Wooster's offense, which entered averaging 3.42 goals per game, got going again early in the second stanza. Brittany Montgomery, crashing down the middle of the field, drove a feed from Standera into the lower left corner of the cage for a 3-1 lead with 31:24 remaining in regulation. It marked Montgomery's fifth goal and Standera's second helper of the game and 10th on the season.

The Tigers furiously attempted a comeback bid, scoring with 9:04 left, when Tori Castanta worked her way around the Wooster defense, and Marisa Myers found her and delivered a pass that Castanta put in the back of the Scot cage. 

Statistically, Wooster ended up with a 30-13 edge in the shot department and 15-9 in corners. Freshman goalkeeper Madalyn Myers made six saves in the victory, while Ashbaugh finished with 14.