Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. – In a back-and-forth affair that featured four first-half ties, including a 5-5 draw at the half, The College of Wooster jumped ahead early in the second and held on down the stretch to claim a 14-9 victory over Thiel Wednesday evening at the Rissell-Schreyer Dome.

Clare Nelson-Johnson led the Wooster (1-0) offensive attack with five goals and an assist. Madison Carey contributed two goals and a pair of assists, while Jaqueline Wallat and Eliza Perry each scored twice. Cassie Greenbaum led the Scots defense with five groundballs while Shawna Ferris posted five saves in the win.

Wooster finished with a 28-15 advantage in shots, went 5-of-8 on free position shots and totaled 24 groundballs to Thiel's 17.

Sharr Martin (San Diego, Calif./The Preuss School UCSD) paced Thiel (0-4) with her first four-goal effort of the season and was 2-for-2 on free position shots. Kelley Bellia (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) added a goal and a pair of assists while Carley Cobb chipped in with a goal and an assist. Hannah Stelmach (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Cassy Mahdi (Odenton, Md./Arundel) each registered a goal.

Jenna Simanovsky (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro North) commanded the Tomcat defensive effort, picking up four groundballs and managing five draw controls. Cobb added three groundballs while Mahdi totaled seven draw controls, a pair of groundballs and caused two turnovers.

Asia Wallace (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) finished with seven saves in the loss. As a team the Tomcats finished with a 16-9 edge in draw controls.

The Tomcats stood toe-to-toe with the Scots all the way through the opening half, winning eight draw controls to Wooster's three. The teams traded goals in the first and eventually went into the break deadlocked at 5-5.

Perry opened the final 30 minutes of action by scoring off of a Carey assist with 26:37 remaining to give the visiting Scots a 6-5 advantage. Wallat notched her first goal of the game 3:17 later (23:20), scoring off of a Shelby Stone assist from the left wing to push Wooster's lead to two, 7-5.

Mahdi's free-position score with 12:10 remaining brought the host Tomcats back to within one, 8-7, but Wooster would score three goals over the next 2:23 to push its lead to four, 11-7, with 8:08 to play. The Scots defense would allow just two Tomcats shots over the final 7:44 of the contest.

The Tomcats will be back in action on Saturday, March 24 when they host Denison University at 1 p.m.