Men's Soccer (9-4-1, 3-2 NCAC)
Coach: Steve Dawson (19th season)
 

Suddes

Carman

Armstrong

The Tigers have been knocking at the door all season. On Saturday, they may just have banged it in. Sophomore Taggart Suddes (Ostrander, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) converted a penalty kick with 9:20 left in the first overtime to lift Wittenberg to a 1-0 victory over defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday. The loss snapped Ohio Wesleyan's NCAC-record streak of 23 straight conference wins. The Bishops' last loss came Oct. 28, 1998 - also a 1-0 overtime loss to Wittenberg.

The foul was called in the midst of a flurry of activity in front of the Bishop goal. Wittenberg junior Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) drilled a shot that bounced off the crossbar and Suddes, the league's leading scorer, tried to head the rebound, but the attempt was short and the scramble to get possession was ended by a whistle. Suddes then sent his penalty kick low and to the left, past a sliding OWU goalkeeper who got to the ball but couldn't control it.

Junior goalkeeper Danny Carman (Louisville, Ky./Male) finished with six saves for Wittenberg in recorded his fourth shutout of the 2001 season. His goals against average ranks among the best in the conference at 1.05.

The win over OWU, which pushed Wittenberg's record against teams ranked in the Great Lakes Region to 3-2-1, was the Tigers' second crucial NCAC win of the week. On Wednesday, the victim was Earlham in a come-from-behind 4-2 win. Armstrong tallied two goals and an assist in the win, including what turned out to be the game-winner early in the second half. Armstrong had six goals and two assists in back-to-back outings against Oberlin and Earlham.

In addition to what the wins did for the Tigers' hopes for the 2001 season, they also inched Head Coach Steve Dawson closer to his landmark 200th career victory. He will try to become just the 35th active coach with 200 or more victories when the Tigers travel to Wabash on Wednesday.

Next: 10/17 vs. Wabash, 3 p.m. (EST)

Miller

Woessner

Wright

Facing their biggest week of the 2001 season and the prospect of elimination from the NCAC tournament, the young Tigers fought back last week to tie Wooster and defeat Allegheny in double overtime. Both teams were ranked in the Great Lakes Region and ahead of Wittenberg in the conference standings when the week began.   The Tigers started off with a 0-0 tie with Wooster, a game in

In the week's second game, Allegheny jumped on top of the Tigers early in the game, but Wittenberg got the equalizer with just 17 minutes left in the game on a goal by freshman Jessica Wright (Granville, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) off an assist from senior Emily Gersbach (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin). Then freshmen Rachel Ridgeway (Montclair, NJ/The Taft School) scored the game-winner in the second overtime period, keeping alive hopes that the Tigers could return to the NCAC tournament in 2001.

With the heavy-lifting done, the Tigers step out of conference on Tuesday to face neighboring rival Cedarville. On Saturday, Gersbach will be honored on Senior Recognition Day, moments before Wittenberg and Hiram to take Bill Edwards Field.

Next: 10/16 vs. Cedarville, 4 p.m.
 

Aljancic

Grove

In perhaps their best performance of the 2001 season, the Tigers pounced on the College of Wooster Saturday, scoring the game's first 34 points and cruising to a 47-13 victory. The win was Wittenberg's 26th consecutive in NCAC action, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997 at Wooster. The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter. Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from

Freshman fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) made it 40-0 with a one-yard scoring plunge midway through the third quarter and freshman tailback Alex Smith (Blue Bell, Pa./Germantown Academy), a week after going over 100 yards in just one half of action at Denison, closed the scoring for Wittenberg with a one-yard run of his own just before the third quarter ended.

The Tigers, who are in the drivers' seat for their fourth consecutive undefeated NCAC regular season and unprecendented fourth straight outright conference crown, play host to upstart Ohio Wesleyan this weekend. The Bishops, who are ranked nationally for the first time in five years, are 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the NCAC.
 

Next: 10/20 vs. Ohio Wesleyan, 1 p.m.
 

The Tigers stepped outside the NCAC again last weekend and took a look at how they stacked up against the best of the best in NCAA Division III. Wittenberg, as it turned out, didn't stack up too high, finishing fourth in the five-team Wittenberg National Invitational over the weekend. But the team is actually encouraged rather than discouraged.

Wittenberg opened the week by winning its sixth straight NCAC match of the 2001 season, a 3-0 whitewashing of Ohio Wesleyan last Wednesday. Then in the Wittenberg National Invitational on Friday and Saturday, the host team defeated Thomas More before losing to No. 1 Wisconsin-Whitewater, No. 2 Mt. St. Joseph and No. 5 Juniata. The Tigers managed to win a game in only one of those three matches.

Freshman outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) was outstanding again in the tournament. After pounding 86 kills in five matches the week before, McDonald was back at it again last week, totaling 68 kills for a 4.25 average. That was good for NCAC Player of the Week honors. She ranks among the league leaders with 371 kills in 86 games in 2001, good for a 4.3 average.

This is a week to regroup before a big push toward the conclusion of the 2001 season and what the team hopes will be a sixth consecutive berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Tigers hit the road on Thursday for a match at Thomas More and then return home to close out regular season conference action against Oberlin and Kenyon on Saturday.
 

Next: 10/18 @ Thomas More, 7 p.m.
 

Gerstle      Hyde

Weide     Dewald

Things just keep getting better for the Tigers on the cross country courses, and at just the right time, too. The women's team finished second at the Manchester Invitational on Saturday, while the men's team enjoyed its finest finish of the season, a fourth. Both fields included nine teams. On the women's side, Wittenberg its usual outstanding performance from junior co-captain Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont). Gerstle, an All-NCAC cross country and track athlete a year ago who is attempting to become the first Wittenberg runner to qualify for the national meet twice in her career, posted one of her best times of the season - 19:22. That was good for the first blue ribbon of the 2001 season for a Wittenberg runner.G erstle was followed closely by senior co-captain Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who was third in a time of 19:45. She was followed by freshman Vanessa Tilton (Camden, Ohio/Twin Valley South), who was 13th in 20:42, sophomore Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Williamsport), who was 25th in 21:24, and freshman Sarah Haley (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City), who was 29th in 21:41.

On the men's side, senior Dave Hyde (Naperville, Ill./Central) led the team for a fourth straight meet, this time crossing the finish line in seventh placein a time of 27:58. He was followed by junior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior), who was 11th in 28:18, senior Luke Clarkson (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Louden), who was 26th in 29:23, senior Scott Huntoon (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor), who was 30th in 29:40, and sophomore Tim Damopoulous (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City), who was 34th in 29:49.

Next: 10/27 @ NCAC Championships
Hosted by Wabash College
 

Burlingame

Romanowski

As the season heads toward an exciting conclusion, the Tigers are trying to regroup from their most difficult week. Four days after losing to conference heavyweight Wooster, the Tigers were stunned at Oberlin last Tuesday 2-1 to fall out of first place in the NCAC, a position they had assumed from the start of the season. Wittenberg bounced back at home on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Ohio Wesleyan behind two goals and an assist by freshman Amy Burlingame (Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth). Junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) had the other goal against the Bishops, while freshman Deb Muller (Weston, Conn./The Millbrook School) had the team's lone tally at Oberlin earlier in the week.

That was just the start of a strange week for the Tigers. On Saturday, the officials didn't show up for a scheduled game at Denison, meaning that the two teams will have to reschedule. On Sunday, the refs made it to the game, but so did the  University of California-Berkeley, the 20th ranked team in Division I. The Bears recorded a 7-0 win over Wittenberg in a game played at Ohio State.

Next: 10/17 @ Kenyon, 4:30 p.m.

October

16	Women's Soccer @ Cedarville	4 p.m.
17	Men's Soccer @ Wabash	3 p.m. (EST)
	Field Hockey @ Kenyon	4:30 p.m.
18	Volleyball @ Thomas More	7 p.m.
20	Volleyball vs. Kenyon	11 a.m.
	Volleyball vs. Oberlin	3 p.m.
	Women's Soccer vs. Hiram	Noon
	Football vs. Ohio Wesleyan	1 p.m.
	Field Hockey @ Ithaca	1 p.m.
	Men's Soccer vs. Hiram	2 p.m.
21	Field Hockey @ Mercyhurst	3 p.m.