SPRINGFIELD - The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team continued its storybook season with a 15-5 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over Wittenberg University on Saturday.
With the win, Wooster puts itself in position to clinch the program's sixth NCAC regular season championship in Tuesday's finale versus Denison University.
Wooster (15-1, 5-0 NCAC) had a near-perfect first period, scoring three goals while holding Wittenberg (4-9, 0-4 NCAC) scoreless and only turning the ball over twice. The Tigers finally got on the scoreboard early in the second frame but then junior Priya Nehria answered by kicking off another 3-0 run for the Scots.
First-year Rowan Pilon put an exclamation point on the first half with a pair of goals in the final minute, giving Wooster a commanding 8-2 lead.
Defense took center stage to start the third quarter before both offenses found their rhythm again. Four different Scots found the back of the net to extend the lead even further. Wittenberg scored first in the final frame, but Wooster closed on its third 3-0 run of the game en route to the victory.
Pilon recorded her third hat trick of the season to lead the offense. Four other Scots recorded at least a pair of goals, including senior Kenzie Morris, junior Lizzie Hardy, junior Sophia Mellis and junior Bella Woodbury.
Morris was all over the field, recording identical career highs of 13 ground balls and 13 draw controls, the first such double-figure game in both categories in her career.
Only two Tigers managed to score more than once as sophomore Aubrey Stager and freshman Hannah Peterson both scored a pair of goals. Peterson also helped secure the defense with nine ground balls and two draw controls.
Four different goalies saw time in the cage throughout the course of the afternoon. Sophomore Audrey Richardson got the start and recorded the win with three saves. Sophomore Brooke Benjamin relieved Richardson and made a career-high six saves.
For Wittenberg, senior Sidney Sheridan suffered the loss but made a game-high 10 saves while senior Gabrielle Weckerly also saw time in between the pipes and recorded nine stops.
Wooster's offensive transition game was firing on all cylinders, completing all 26 clears that faced them. The Scots also only turned the ball over 10 times, the team's lowest number since mid-March.
Wooster doubled up Wittenberg in both shots (40-20) and clears (16-8) and also held the ground ball advantage at 47-31.
Wooster will play for the conference regular season title against fellow unbeaten NCAC foe Denison at 6 p.m. Tuesday inside John P. Papp Stadium. A win on Tuesday would mark the Scots' first regular season crown since the 2009 season and tie the program record with 16 wins which was set in 2019.
