SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Despite the dreary day, and some suspect officiating, the Wittenberg reserves sparkled and had their biggest scoring output of the year as they defeated Cedarville 4-0. Saving their best attacking moments of the 2004 campaign for the last 45 minutes, the Tigers closed their season in convincing fashion and improved their record to 4-1.

It all began in the midfield, as Rachel Ridgeway controlled the tempo and did a great job of spreading the ball around to her teammates. Constant movement by Courtney Burchett and Amanda Farrell made it easy for Ridgeway to find feet and keep the attack flowing towards the Cedarville goal. The supporting play of the Tigers' back four of Emily Stover, Abby Johnson, Megan Hauser and Stacy Fennell kept the ball in Wittenberg's possession for most of the game and also provided instant pressure whenever Cedarville had opportunities to play back into the game. Aimee Erney kept the scoresheet clean and came up with a great save on Cedarville's first-half attempt at goal. With the game at 0-0, a Cedarville midfielder ripped a shot from outside that Erney calmly and softly snatched out of the air to preserve the shutout.

Although the attacking patterns were there in the first half, the Tiger forwards could not find the back of the net. That all changed in the 60th minute when Stephanie Sharp cut in behind the Cedarville defense and slotted home the first goal of the game. Lindsey Zigler was next as she blasted home a centering pass from Ridgeway after a very nice combination between Ridgeway and Kelly Kreiger. Farrell got in the scoring mode as well, after diagonal runs from Sharp and Abby Vanderbosch opened up a channel for her to dribble through, and the score was quickly 3-0. It ended 4-0 as Ridgeway capped off a great day by toe-poking a loose ball into the back on the net.

Coach Lipp's quote on the game summed it up best: "What I love about this reserve team is that they work so hard in practice and are so well adapted in our system that when we get into a situation like today they know what to do to be successful and we look good doing it. The team scored some great goals today and scored them the way we have been practicing to do it. It is a tribute to how hard the players work and how focused they are on being successful in our system. This group of players and these games have been a major highlight to our season."

2004 Women's Soccer Schedule/Results