Tigers Bow Out Of NCAC Tournament With Semifinal Loss To DePauw
Wittenberg battled back to even the score, only to see DePauw pick up the game-winner on a penalty kick to advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship.
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Team Stats
DePauw
| Game Statistics | DePauw | Wittenberg |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 7 (5) | 10 (3) |
| Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Fouls | 7 | 4 |
| Corner Kicks | 5 | 5 |
| Offsides | 0 | 3 |
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers saw their seven-game home winning streak snapped in a 2-1 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament semifinal loss to DePauw.
In addition to dashing their hopes of an NCAC Tournament title, the loss puts the first-seeded Tigers' dreams of a return to the NCAA Division III Tournament in jeopardy. Wittenberg, which dropped to 11-4-3 overall, now becomes a candidate for an at-large berth in the national competition after checking in at No. 4 in the latest Great Lakes Region rankings.
DePauw, which snuck into the NCAC Tournament with a win in its regular season finale, improved to 6-10-1 overall and 4-3-1 in the NCAC. The visiting Tigers next head to third-seeded Denison for the tourney championship match on Saturday.
The two teams played to a cautious first-half draw, with just one Wittenberg shot on goal among the seven total played by both teams over the opening 45 minutes. Wittenberg senior Melissa Gartner (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) was not tested between the pipes in the first half before giving way to senior Cassie Lythjohan (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville).
After the first 15 minutes of the second half played out in much the same fashion, the action picked up suddenly, starting with a DePauw goal by Chloe Jacob in the 61st minute. From that point, Wittenberg picked up its pace significantly, which netted the equalizer 20 minutes later.
After an offside call against Wittenberg, DePauw was unable to clear its defensive zone with the resulting free kick. That's when junior Kayla Murphy (Dayton, Ohio/Stebbins) pounced on a loose ball and blasted it past DePauw goalkeeper Emma Cooper.
The celebration had barely subsided when DePauw drew a penalty kick that turned out to be the game-winner. DePauw's Dana Sprague took a shot that Lythjohan deflected but could not stop from settling into the Wittenberg net at the 80:31 mark.
The host Tigers generated several more quality scoring opportunities, but they were unable to direct anything on frame. Cooper finished with two saves while facing 10 Wittenberg shots in the game, split evenly between the two halves. Lythjohan came up with three saves over the final 45 minutes.