Cara Romanowski

The Tiger women's lacrosse team lost in the first round of the NCAC Tournament last Tuesday against Ohio Wesleyan. Wittenberg, which was the sixth seed in the tourney after tying Kenyon and Oberlin for fourth place with a 3-4 regular season NCAC record, gave the third-seeded Bishops a strong run in the closing minutes, however, scoring the game's final five goals in a 13-12 defeat.

Junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), the leading scorer in the NCAC and one of the nation's most prolific goal scorers, found the back of the net six times against OWU. She finished the season with 54 goals, just three short of the Wittenberg season record. After the tournament, Romanowski was named to the NCAC All-Tournament team.

The women's lacrosse All-NCAC team will be announced later this week, and a press release will follow shortly thereafter.

The Tiger women's lacrosse team lost two NCAC games last week and fell into a fourth-place tie in the final regular season standings. As a

Cara Romanowski	Kate Williston

result of tiebreaker criteria, Wittenberg was placed sixth in the six-team NCAC Tournament and plays third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday.

Ironically enough, it was the Bishops who put the Tigers in this position after winning a 15-7 decision on Sunday. Wittenberg fell behind 6-2 in the first half and couldn't quite rally, despite a career-high four goals by sophomore Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster).

Earlier in the week, Wittenberg couldn't keep pace with Kenyon, falling 17-11. Junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) scored seven goals, just two short of the Wittenberg record for goals in a game, but it wasn't enough. Freshman Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) chipped in with two goals.

Cara Romanowski	Kate Williston

It was a big weekend for the Tiger women's lacrosse team, and when the dust settled following two games in 24 hours Wittenberg had one win and one loss to show for its efforts. Unfortunately, the loss was to Wooster on Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field by an 11-7 count, pushing the Tigers out of contention for the top spot in the conference. Wooster and Denison are tied for the lead, while Wittenberg is currently alone in third place, two games off the pace heading into a big week in which the Tigers travel to Kenyon on Wednesday and Ohio Wesleyan on Sunday.

Against the Scots, Wittenberg fell behind 6-2 midway through the first half and couldn't quite catch up, pulling to within two goals on two occasions in the second half. Junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) continued her torrid scoring pace, netting four goals to spark the offense. But Wooster scored a couple of late goals in transition to account for the difference.

On Sunday, the Tigers rebounded for a 10-7 victory over visiting Indiana University (Pa.). Romanowski again led the team with three goals as the Tigers moved out to a 7-3 halftime lead and never looked back. Joining Romanowski in the scoring fray was sophomore Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), who had two goals, and freshman Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who also found the back of the net on two occasions.

Romanowski ranks second in the NCAC in scoring with 4.27 points per game and first in goals with 3.64 per outing.

Erin Jacobsen

The Tiger women's lacrosse team remains in the thick of things in the 2002 NCAC race after beating Earlham last Wednesday and then losing to Denison on Saturday. That left the Tigers a half-game out of the top spot with a 3-1 NCAC mark with important conference match-ups upcoming against Wooster, Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan. This week is relatively quiet with only a Saturday home date opposite the Scots on the docket.

Last week, freshman Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) each scored three goals against Earlham, while junior Mollie Stone (Damascus, Md./Damascus) and senior Erin Jacobsen (Fairport, NY/Penfield) each chipped in with two tallies. The win was Wittenberg's third straight in conference play and put them briefly alone atop the standings.

Then came a big game against perennial title contender Denison on Saturday and, unfortunately, a slow start for the Tigers. Down 8-2 at halftime, Wittenberg rallied in the second half but ultimately fell 19-8. Romanowski, last week's NCAC Player of the Week, had five goals and an assist in the loss.
Romanowski leads the NCAC in scoring with 4.44 points per game, ranks second in goals with 3.67 per outing and stands fifth in assists at 0.78 per contest. Burns is third in assists at 1.00 and Jacobsen is fourth in goals at 2.22.

Cara Romanowski

Jenny Burns

It was quite a week for the Wittenberg women's lacrosse program. After a week off, the Tigers opened the 2002 North Coast Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of overtime thrillers at Edwards-Maurer Field.

On Saturday, the Tigers defeated Oberlin in a 9-8 overtime decision. Less than 24 hours later, Allegheny was the victim in comeback fashion as Wittenberg rallied on several occasions to finally pull out a 13-12 overtime victory and hand Tiger Head Coach Nancy Beck her 100th career victory. The wins pushed Wittenberg into the early NCAC lead at 2-0 and 4-3 overall, heading into an important week of conference action that includes a road game at Earlham on Wednesday and a home game against Denison on Saturday.

The two wins were keyed by the play of junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), who had eight goals (four in each game), three assists, 15 ground balls and five caused turnovers in the two games. Her outstanding performances earned effusive praise from her coach and NCAC Player of the Week honors.

While Romanowski was hard at work, freshman teammate Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) was making her mark as well. The team's second-leading scorer behind Romanowski, a defender, Burns had the first and last goals in the win over Oberlin to go along with a second-half assist. Against Allegheny, she one-upped herself with three of Wittenberg's last five goals, including two in overtime after the Gators had taken a brief lead. The game-winner came with just six seconds left in the game.

Also playing well was senior Erin Jacobsen (Fairport, NY/Penfield), who found the back of the net four times, including three in the clutch come-from-behind win over Allegheny.

Erin Jacobson

No action last week for the women's lacrosse Tigers. In the latest NCAC statistics, junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) leads the way with 17 goals and two assists for 19 points, or 3.8 per game. Romanowski's goal total, which is ahead of last year's 47-goal pace, puts here atop the NCAC as 3.4 per game. 

Also among the NCAC's best in scoring and goals is senior Erin Jacobsen (Fairport, NY/Penfield) with 13 goals in five games this year.

They back at it on Saturday, April 6 against Oberlin under the lights at Edwards-Maurer Field. That will be Wittenberg's 2002 NCAC opener. 

Next:
4/6 vs. Oberlin, 7 p.m.

The 2002 spring season home opener has been pushed back to Tuesday against Cedarville, with the Northern Kentucky match slated for last Thursday rescheduled for April 17.

Jacobson Romanowski

For a team that is replacing more than half of its offensive production,both goaltenders and the bulk of its defensive presence, growing pains could be expected. Still, the Tiger women's lacrosse team has been verycompetitive in the early going of the 2002 season and may be gaining momentum heading into an off-week and then the NCAC schedule after that.  Last week, the Tigers returned from a 1-1 Spring Break trip that included a loss to Regis College and a win over Salve Regina in Panama City, Fla. to go 1-2. Wittenberg upended visiting Puget Sound on Monday by a 12-9 count but then was defeated twice on the road over the weekend by St. Vincent and Frostburg State.  The offense has generally been holding its own so far this year. Against Puget Sound, senior Erin Jacobsen (Fairport, NY/Penfield) scored five goals to power the offense. In a 12-9 overtime defeat at St. Vincent on Saturday, junior Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) had a season-high six goals, while Jacobsen chipped in with two. Then against Frostburg State, the Tigers got a pair of tallies from Romanowski and a goal and an assist from sophomore Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster).

Next:
4/6 vs. Oberlin, 7 p.m.

Cara Romanowski

Wittenberg Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Nancy Beck didn't want this day to come, but it's here and she and her team are embracing it - the Tigers must play a season without Kati Robbins for the first time in four years. Named the NCAC Offensive Player of the Year, Robbins scored 46 goals and added a school- and NCAC-record 40 assists in leading the Tigers to a 9-7 record and a 4-3 mark in the conference. But she and third-leading scorer Jennie Stone graduated last year, leaving holes in the lineup that are more like craters.

That said, the Tigers do have a lot of talent returning, especially on the offensive side of the field. Most notably, second-leading scorer and 2001 first-team All-NCAC performer Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) figures to get even more opportunities after finding the back of the net a team-best 47 times in 2001. She will be joined by several potent offensive players, including junior Mollie Stone (Damascus, Md./Damascus), who had 12 points in 2001, and sophomore Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), who was fourth on the team with 11 goals and 14 points.

On defense, Wittenberg must replace graduated standout Danielle Paglino, the school record-holder for career ground balls, and several other key performers. Top returners include Lindsay Law (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Scioto), the only player to play every minute of every game in 2001, and sophomore Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney).

The Tigers kick things off next week with a challenging trip to Florida in which they play Regis and Salve Regina in Panama City. Their home opener is Monday, March 18 against Puget Sound.

Next:
3/10 vs. Regis @ Panama City, Fla.