The Tiger field hockey team put together another outstanding season in 2002, finishing with a 17-4 overall record and a mark of 10-2 in the NCAC. The list of accomplishments was lengthy, including NCAC regular season and tournament championships and the fifth NCAA Division III Tournament berth in school history.

The Tigers, who were ranked in the national top 20 all season and finished the season No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, started out with 11 straight victories, including seven consecutive against conference opponents. The Tigers’ only two NCAC losses came against perennial rivals Denison and Wooster on their home fields by narrow 1-0 margins. Wittenberg’s other two losses were 2-0 to Juniata on Oct. 18 and 3-0 to nationally ranked Williams in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Messiah College on Nov. 15. Wittenberg finished the season 10-0 at Edwards-Maurer Field.

Five Wittenberg players made first-team All-NCAC following the season, four of whom went on to earn All-America awards — first-team selections Rebecca Russ and Emily Duh and third-team choices Heather House and Jen Meyer. In addition, Duh and Russ were selected to participate in the NFHCA Division III North/South Senior All-Star game, a prestigious annual event held on Nov. 23 at Springfield College during the 2002 Final Four.

Wittenberg scored a lot of goals in 2002, putting 55 balls past opposing netminders and scoring four goals or more seven times in 21 games. But the Tigers made the biggest dent on the record books with their defense, which yielded just 17 goals all season, including a record-setting six in 12 NCAC regular season games.

Marianne Beshara ends her third year guiding the Tigers with a 45-14 overall record, including an outstanding 30-6 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Beshara earned 2002 NCAC Co-Coach of the Year and Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year, both for the second time in her career.