Football (4-1, 2-0 NCAC)
Coach: Joe Fincham (sixth season)
 
 

Cornett

Aljancic

The Tigers struggled to move the ball on offense all day, so they finally took to the air to claim one of the most thrilling football victories in recent memory over visiting Allegheny College, 21-17, before a Homecoming crowd of 3,509 last Saturday. Wittenberg, ranked No. 19 in the country and riding a 23-game North Coast Athletic Conference win streak, came from 10 points behind on a pair of touchdown passes from junior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) to Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville), the last one coming with just 16 seconds on the clock. The win moved the Tigers, the four-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions, to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

After taking an early 7-0 lead, Wittenberg fell behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter before the offense finally got untracked to go 58 yards on six plays before Cornett hooked up with Aljancic from four yards out with 6:37 left to play. The Cornett to Aljancic connection produced 45 of those 58 yards on three receptions. The Tigers then came up with another defensive stand and took possession of the ball again with 2:42 remaining. All they did from that point was convert four third downs in a drive that took 2:26 off the clock, culminating in a game-winning six-yard touchdown pass from Cornett to Aljancic with 16 seconds left.

Aljancic caught 11 passes for 130 yards in the game, 10 of them for 105 yards in the second half alone. He is closing in on several Wittenberg receiving records, including yards, receptions and touchdowns, all of which he ranks in the top three in school history. And the 11 receptions were one short of the 27-year-old school record of 12 set by Ron Duncan, a 2001 Athletics Hall of Honor inductee.

All of those accomplishments earned Aljancic NCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Next: 10/6 @ Denison, 1 p.m.

Murphy

McDonald

Wittenberg Head Coach often says she is "crazy" for the schedules she puts together. After finishing second in top-flight tournaments at Mt. St. Joseph and Elmhurst already this season, the Tigers hosted the first of two equally high-quality tournaments last weekend in the HPER Center. Crazy indeed. If anyone had doubts of Wittenberg's ability to compete on a national level, it was again erased with a fine performance before a boisterous homecoming crowd.

In a tournament that included Case Western Reserve, second-ranked Elmhurst, No. 14 ranked Ohio Northern and Ohio Athletic Conference powers Muskingum and Mt. Union, the 12th-ranked Tigers finished in a three-way tie for first with Ohio Northern and Elmhurst with a 3-1 record. Based on tiebreaker criteria, ONU was awarded the championship, with Elmhurst, which beat Wittenberg for the second time this season in the tourney's final match, taking the runner-up trophy.

There were plenty of bright spots for the host Tigers, particularly the continued brilliant play of junior outside hitter Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic), who had 81 kills and 68 digs in five matches during the week (including an NCAC match last Wednesday against Earlham). She and freshman outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic), the team's leader in kills, both were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Next up for the four-time defending NCAC champions is a conference tri-match at Allegheny with Denison. The Gators and Big Red are expected to be Wittenberg's closest pursuers in the race for the 2001 regular season and tournament titles.

Next: 10/6 @ Allegheny, 11 a.m./1 p.m.

Klinzing

Kisling

Duh

The field hockey Tigers started the 2000 season 6-0 en route to one of the finest seasons in school history that included winning a share of the NCAC title and claiming the KIT/NCAC Mideast Regional Tournament. Despite playing a tough early-season schedule, the Tigers have done that outstanding start one better in 2001 and now head into the second half of the NCAC regular season round robin with a perfect 7-0 mark (5-0 in conference). The Tigers are one of just eight Division III teams in the nation

Wittenberg has shut out six of its seven opponents thus far, yielding only a pair of goals in an important early-season 3-2 victory at Wooster on Sept. 8. The Tigers' latest shutout wins came last Monday in a 1-0 decision over Denison, last year's NCAC co-champion, and last Tuesday in a 4-0 whitewashing of Kenyon.

Senior goalkeeper Georgina Klinzing (Gasport, NY/Royalton Hartland) ranks third in the nation with a save percentage of 94.1 and a goals against average of 0.33. She spearheads a scoring defense that easily tops the NCAC and ranks second in the nation.

Offensively, Ciaran Kisling (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills) leads all freshman in the NCAC with six goals in seven games. And junior Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley), who assisted on the only goal of the game against Denison and distributed two more assists in the win over Kenyon, picked up NCAC Player of the Week honors for her play last week.

Next: 10/3 @ Earlham, 4:30 p.m.

Armstrong

Suddes

For the second year in a row, a strong non-conference showing in the early going has given way to struggles against the elite of the North Coast Athletic Conference. After opening the season with a 6-2 record, the Tigers have gone winless over the last week. Offense has again been a problem for Wittenberg, as conference foes Denison and Kenyon both shut out the Tigers out. The only goal Wittenberg has scored in the last 10 days was by junior Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) off an assist by sophomore Taggart Suddes (Ostrander, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) during the first half of a 1-1 tie with nationally ranked

Wittenberg will attempt to get back into the win column this Saturday against Oberlin at Bill Edwards Field. The annual Alumni Game will follow, and a fundraising golf outing is slated for Sunday at Reid Park. For more information, check the Wittenberg web site.

Next: 10/6 vs. Oberlin, 2 p.m.

Woessner

Mazzio

Miller

After two tough weeks in which the Tigers lost four straight games, the hope is that the ship has been righted after a 1-0 victory over NCAC rival Kenyon on Saturday. Sophomore forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) scored a second half goal off an assist from freshman forward Katie Mazzio (Wilmington, Del./A.I. duPont), and sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) made it stand up with eight saves.

The Tigers started last week off with a disappointing defeat at Earlham on Wednesday, a 4-3 decision in overtime. It was Wittenberg's third one-goal defeat already in 2001.

Despite the team's recent struggles, the Tigers can get right back into the conference race this week when perennial power Denison comes calling on Wednesday and then Wittenberg takes to the road on Saturday to face Oberlin. Only the top four teams in the conference make the postseason tournament, so every game from this point is huge for the Tigers, who already have two NCAC losses.

Next: 10/3 vs Denison, 4 p.m.

Gerstle

Hyde

Wittenberg got another outstanding performance from junior co-captain Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago last weekend. Gerstle, last week's NCAC Runner of the Week, was one of the top Division III finishers in a field that numbered nearly 300, posting a 37th place finish with a time of 19:13. Gerstle's strong finish powered Wittenberg to 25th as a team in a field of 41 teams.

Next: 10/5 @ All-Ohio Championships (OWU)

Upcoming Tiger Sports Action:
October
3               Women's Soccer vs. Denison 4 p.m.
                  Field Hockey @ Earlham 4:30 p.m.
5               CrossCountry @ All-Ohio Championships (Ohio Wesleyan)
                 Field Hockey vs. Wooster  7 p.m.
6               Volleyball @ Allegheny 11 a.m.
                 Football @ Denison 1 p.m.
                 Men's Soccer vs. Oberlin  2 p.m.
                 Women's Soccer @ Oberlin 2 p.m.