WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
GAMBIER, Ohio — A first-half goal from Claire Pruner put an end to an offensive drought for the Kenyon College women’s soccer team. It also lifted the Owls a 1-1 conference draw with the Wittenberg University Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Mavec Field.
Pruner’s punt ended a scoreless streak for the Owls that spanned their previous four contests. It also halted Kenyon’s losing streak at six games and moved the Owls’ marks to 1-8-1 overall and 0-2-1 in North Coast Athletic Conference play.
In the game’s 40th minute, Kenyon earned a corner kick following Emily Copeland’s shot that was saved and ricocheted over the end line. Julianna Granetzke took the corner, Kenyon’s third of the game. It resulted in a shot from Margot Kuller, but the shot was blocked, forcing the Owls offense to reset.
A few seconds later, Holly Byun let a shot go from the top of the box, but that was blocked, too. The rebound, however, came out to Brooke Heis, who was standing near the right post. Heis headed the ball back toward the goal, where Pruner picked it out of mid air and ripped it into the lower right side of the Wittenberg net.
It was the first collegiate goal for Pruner, a first-year, as well as the first collegiate assist for Heis, a junior defender.
Kenyon, which played solid defense in the first half, played even better in the second half. The Owls held the Tigers to just five shots over those final 45 minutes of play, however, the Tigers’ third shot of the half, with just 4:27 left in the game, found Kenyon twine.
Wittenberg’s goal came off a corner that was sent into play by Brooke Mullis and headed over the goal line by Chamberlain Browning.
As the final minutes ticked away, each team had one more legitimate shot at breaking the tie. Kenyon’s attempt was a shot from Copeland that just missed its mark to the left. Wittenberg’s attempt with a header from Olivia Kuhner that struck the right goal post.
Wittenberg ended up with a slight 15-14 advantage in shots, but tipped the scales a little more in corner kicks (10-4) and shots on goal (8-4). The result moved the Tigers to 3-4-4 overall and 1-1-1 in conference competition.
Kenyon sophomore goalkeeper Ariel Kite, played a solid game, made seven saves, and was just minutes away from recording the team’s first shutout of the season.
