GAMBIER, Ohio – The Wittenberg University Tigers field hockey team that the Kenyon College Ladies defeated 5-1 earlier this season was a little feistier Saturday at McBride Field. The Tigers controlled tempo early, but Kenyon responded by scoring once in each half to pull out a 2-1 victory.

The Ladies never trailed during the North Coast Athletic Conference contest, but they did have to survive a Wittenberg attack that produced seven penalty corners and 11 shots within the game's first 20 minutes.

The Ladies defense, anchored by sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Speroff, who made six saves, was up to the task and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the time being.

At the 18-minute mark of the first half, Wittenberg's Maddie Goelz drew a green card and the Kenyon offense went to work. Fifty seconds after the card, Kenyon capitalized on a penalty corner. Senior Christine Bloom put the ball in play to the top of the circle. Fellow senior Maddie Breschi was there to collect the pass and then fired off a screamer that only stopped when it hit the back of the Wittenberg cage. The goal was Breschi's team-leading 12th of the season and the assist was Bloom's second.

The 1-0 lead stood through halftime and through the early stages of the second half. At the 49:10 mark of the game, Kenyon stole a Tiger pass at midfield and worked the ball straight up the middle of the Wittenberg zone. Katelyn Hutchinson delivered a pass to Minke Verweij, who beat one defender and launched a backhanded shot that found its way into the right corner of the Wittenberg cage. It was the fourth goal of her freshman campaign.

Wittenberg (5-9, 5-5 NCAC) did not go away quietly. Roughly four minutes after Kenyon scored its second goal, the Tigers answered. On a play that developed off a penalty corner, a blast from Brighid Kortyna was redirected into the Kenyon goal by Blaine Donnelly. That goal brought an end to a streak of 275 minutes in which Kenyon had not allowed a goal.

The Tigers ended up outshooting Kenyon 19-13 and posted a 10-8 edge in the penalty corners.

The win was Kenyon's 11th straight and it boosted the Ladies' records to 13-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in NCAC play. No other Kenyon team, in the history of the field hockey program, produced a better record through the first 14 games of the season.