On Sept. 20, the Wittenberg Women’s Soccer Team had a hard-fought battle and defended the team’s home turf. The game ended in a tie of 1-1 in double overtime, against Capital University’s Crusaders in the team’s second home game of the season.
The game started off slow, with both the Tigers and the Crusaders taking their time to move the ball up and down the field. There were two different shots taken at Wittenberg’s goal that were saved by starting keeper, Hannah Wilson, ’18. But it wasn’t until 27 minutes in that the Crusaders snuck one by Wilson, making their only goal of the game.
The Tigers took a total of six shots in the first half, which were all over the place. The shots hit the crossbar, went wide, were blocked or saved by the Crusader’s keeper. That didn’t deter the team, as they pressed on.
As the second half began, head coach Katie Robinson remarked on the intensity that her team had on the field.
“We brought a level of intensity and competitiveness to the second half that we lacked in the first, which allowed us to create a lot of chances on goal,” Robinson said.
The Tigers switched up the line-up and came out with a look of determination at the beginning of the second half. That determination was evident as Megan Davis, ’19, and Jordyn Wright, ’18, both took shots at the goal four minutes apart. Wright, Leah Soutar, ’18, and Taylor Vaughn-Stanton, ’17, all continued to take shots at the goal where saves and high balls kept them from scoring. However, with two minutes and 36 seconds left in the game, Julia Smith, ’18, scored a goal with an assist by Wright, which tied up the game.
Going into the first overtime, Wright flicked a header and Kaitlyn Krieg, ’21, took a shot, both saved by Capital’s goalie. With 10 minutes in overtime play left, the Tigers kept fighting, where there was another shot and header taken by Wittenberg’s Emily Thomas, ’19, and Davis, respectively. In the last minute, the Tigers pushed to get the ball down the field, landing Kenzie Mason, ’20, with a yellow card.
Then, the buzzer sounded and the game ended with a double-overtime tie. There was a flicker of defeat across the field as both teams realized that there was no time left to try again, but they walked down and shook hands concluding their time together on the field.
“We are playing very well as a team, despite a few injuries that have moved some players to new positions,” Robinson said. “We felt like we came out a bit slow to start the game, but made some halftime adjustments that I thought the team handled well. As a staff, we are very proud of the team for their work rate and ability to come back and tie the game late. We are looking forward to opening conference play this weekend at Kenyon.”
Keep a look out as the Tigers return home for a game against Transylvania University on Sept. 27.
