No. 18 Women’s Soccer draws with Wittenberg to open 2021 season
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — The No. 18 Ohio Northern women's soccer team opened its 2021 season with a 1-1 draw against Wittenberg on Wednesday night at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears (0-0-1 overall) got on the board first in the opening half but were unable to hold that edge, as the Tigers (0-0-1 overall) evened the score in the second half to ultimately send the game to overtime.
Both teams went scoreless in the two 10-minute overtime periods, forcing the game to end in a tie.
Northern's first goal of the 2021 season came off the foot of sophomore Jill Roberts (Bellbrook/Carroll) in the 10th minute of Wednesday's game. She was assisted by senior Tara Morris (Monroe) and sophomore Kylie Cabana (Dexter, Mich.).
ONU held Wittenberg off the scoreboard for the remainder of the half, taking the 1-0 edge into intermission.
The Tigers finally broke through in the second half, though, as sophomore Paige Kaiser, assisted by freshman Hannah Heald and senior Sydney Artis, got a ball past the reigning Ohio Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in senior Kristy Catrine (Springboro) in the 69th minute to knot the score.
Shot attempts were sparse in the overtime periods, as the teams had just one each.
The Polar Bears finished the game with 12 shots and were led in that category by Roberts with five.
Junior Amy Bidwill attempted a team-high two of the Tigers' eight shots.
The teams combined for 18 fouls — 10 by Wittenberg and eight by ONU — and made three saves each.
Ohio Northern will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 4, for a 1:30 p.m. game against Emory (Ga.) at the Centre (Ky.) Tournament in Danville, Kentucky. The Polar Bears are scheduled to play in a second game in the tournament on Sunday against either No. 19 Centre (Ky.) or North Central (Ill.).
