GAMBIER – Trying to remain in contention for one of four spots in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) postseason tournament, the Kenyon College field hockey team boosted its chances Sunday with a 2-1 home victory against the Wittenberg University Tigers.
Kenyon’s win over Wittenberg was its second of the season; however, the first (1-0 at Wittenberg) did not count as a conference contest. Sunday’s result pushed Kenyon over the .500 mark with a 7-6 overall record, as well as an improved NCAC mark of 2-3. The loss dropped Wittenberg to 6-6 overall and 2-2 in conference competition.
The host Owls got on the board first Sunday with a second-quarter goal from senior Bella Kern. The play developed with junior Maddie Gwyther breaking free on the right wing. She drove toward the Wittenberg cage and flicked a pass to her left, across the goal mouth. Kern was in position, waiting on the pass, and slapped it over the line. The goal was Kern’s team-leading fourth of the season, while the assist went down as Gwyther’s first.
Wittenberg didn’t take much time to answer. A little more than 2 minutes after Kenyon’s goal, the Tigers scored off a penalty corner. Meredith Johnson inserted the ball to Regan Mazzulli, who got it back to Johnson, camping out near the left post. When she got the ball back, Johnson slid her shot past Kenyon goalkeeper Megan Lydon.
The game remained deadlocked until the halfway point of the third quarter. At that time, Ella Haskins, a sophomore, stole the ball from a backpedaling Wittenberg defense. She had a free run at the goal from there and fired a laser into the bottom left corner of the cage. Haskins’ goal, her second of the season, would hold up as the game-winner.
Kenyon ended up out-shooting Wittenberg 13-4, and Lydon made a pair of saves to improve her personal goalkeeping record to 4-2.
Kenyon has three conference games left on its schedule. The first of those three will be Tuesday night at Allegheny College, a team that is 11-3 overall and 2-2 in the NCAC.
