Wittenberg women’s soccer team played their last regular season game and celebrated seniors Megan Davis, Shannon Brueck, Taylor Vaughn-Stanton, Emily Thomas, Caylie Surrena and Missy Bernhardt.
The class of 2019 holds an overall record of 37-26-10 and 20-8-3 in conference play. With that great success they captured the regular season NCAC championship in 2016 and won the NCAC tournament in 2017. They also were awarded two bids into NCAA tournament. The senior class also preforms well off the field, as they received the Team Academic Award in 2016 and 2017.
“My time playing at Witt has been amazing, for both coaches,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen different styles of play, but also all four years have been pretty memorable. The best part about playing here is having the support of the students as well as my parents who have never missed a game. We always have students at our games, yelling for each and every player & the support is amazing. The most memorable thing is probably making it to the tournament.”
“My soccer experience at Wittenberg has been amazing,” Stanton said. “It has challenged me physically, mentally and emotionally and I believe that I have come out of this a much stronger person, ready for whatever new challenges life will bring me. One of the best parts about playing soccer here at Witt are the friendships that you form. Soccer is a chance to meet people with all different backgrounds, all playing a sport that you can share and love. Our team has been most memorable for the failures. When I say that, I mean how we get back up from those failures, dust ourselves off, and go create success the next time. We have gone through many small and large failures throughout my 4 years here, but how we have come back from those and found a way to succeed is what will be the most memorable to me.”
“This senior class has been great for such a young team,” Coach Kate Robinson said. “I think they’ve done a fantastic job of really taking some of these young players under their wing and paving the way for the rest of the group. The work rate in training, the positivity and encouragement for hte younger players on the team has been great.”
Their passion for their teammates and this program as part of their experience at Wittenberg is contagious,” Robinson continued. “We have really seen them step up as motivators, leaders, good teammates and continue the tradition of our program that is family. With 14 new players this year we knew the culture would have to be a focus and our senior class has done an awesome job integrating our new players and really setting the stage for a family environment as the key component to our culture here.
“My favorite part about coaching is developing relationships with players,” Robinson said. “I’ve spent 2 years with this senior class and getting to know them, their families and building relationships with them is the best experience we’ve had. Seeing them develop and grow as people, students and as athletes is a great experience for our whole staff and a big part of why we do this for a living,” Robinson stated.
The game against Hiram ended in double overtime and scoreless. Wittenberg’s offensive attack was on fire as they shot a total of 22 shots, with four on goal. Hiram had 10 shots and half of them were on goal. The Tigers were not able to capitalize off of their 14 corner kicks, while Hiram only had four.
As much this game was an offensive focused game the defensive side was the star of the game. The Tigers starting goalie Kelly Corbin, ‘20, recorded five saves. While the starting goalie for the Terriers recorded three saves.
The Tigers enter post season play as the number four seed, they will travel to top seeded Denison and play Wednesday at 7:00pm.
The Tigers enter post season play as the number four seed, they will travel to top seeded Denison and play on Halloween night at 7:00pm
