The Wooster women’s soccer team played to two draws in five days last week, tying Hiram College 1-1 on Oct. 15 and playing a scoreless match at Denison University last Saturday. The ties bring the Scots’ record to 7-5-3 (2-1-2 NCAC).
At Hiram (7-5-2, 1-3-1 NCAC), Wooster appeared to have the victory in hand thanks to an unassisted 52nd-minute goal by Kennedy Payne ’17. Unfortunately, the defense allowed the Terriers’ Kelsey Martin to score off a rebound with just under three minutes left to play in regulation. Katherine Tuttle ’15 had a good look at a potential game-winner in the 89th minute, but Hiram goalkeeper Hailie Reed made the save. In overtime, Payne and Tuttle both got shots off, but they were unable to find the net. Elizabeth Clark ’17 made a game-saving stop in the first extra period.
Goals were even more scarce in Granville, Ohio last Saturday as Carly Eppler ’17 made nine saves to stonewall the Big Red (6-6-2, 2-1-2 NCAC). Denison’s Andrea Karl made four saves of her own as both teams consistently failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities. The Big Red outshot the Scots 19-9, but Wooster could not score on any of its four consecutive corner kicks following a near-goal by Tuttle in the 76th minute.
Denison had four shots in overtime, but Eppler stopped two of them and the other two were off target. Karl saved Wooster’s only try in the extra sessions. The 0-0 finish left both schools tied for fourth place in the NCAC, behind Allegheny College (8-4-2, 4-0), DePauw University (9-6, 4-1) and Wittenberg University (7-5-3, 3-0-1).
The Fighting Scots returned home to play Oberlin College (4-10, 0-4 NCAC) on Wednesday after press time. Tomorrow they will travel to Springfield, Ohio to take on archrival Wittenberg before finishing their season at home on Oct. 30 against Allegheny. If Wooster performs well enough against the Tigers and Gators to remain in the top four of the conference, the team will begin the NCAC Tournament Semifinals on Nov. 6 with the hopes of getting into the NCAA Div. III Tournament.