Morgan Bittengle Heads to 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament for Ashland University

2015 Nov 3

Morgan Bittengle of Pickerington, OH, is a forward for the Ashland University Eagles Women's Soccer Team, which is hosting the 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 3, against Michigan Tech.

Bittengle is majoring in health and risk communication. She is the daughter of Shawn and Jogn Bittengle of Pickerington. Bittengle is a 2014 graduate of Pickerington North High School.

The Eagles come into the tournament at 13-3 overall and 9-3 in the GLIAC. This is their third consecutive trip to the conference tournament. The Huskies are 9-6-1, 6-5-1. Ashland finished the regular season with a 1-0 win on Friday (Oct. 30) at Ohio Dominican.

"We're feeling well about where things are at for us as a team," said Ashland Head coach Danny Krispinsky," but even though we got a good win on Friday, I think we're past that. We're looking forward to tomorrow, and we know that we have a huge challenge ahead of us. We're now ready for the next mission."

On Sept. 18, Ashland traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and came away with a 1-0 win in Houghton. The game's lone goal came from sophomore forward Morgan Bittengle in the 84th minute. The win against the Huskies was one of 10 Eagle victories by a single goal to date in 2015.

"Winning helps any team," Krispinsky said. "For us this year, we have a lot of victories by one goal. I think that has taught us how to win going forward. Any time you get a win that helps. It helps your confidence, and helps the team grow. We've learned a lot from those games, as well."

Ashland has 12 sophomores and six freshmen on the roster, which makes it a young team. But those 12 sophomores have been a part of 35 games over two seasons, and are playing in their second GLIAC Tournament.

"That sophomore group and junior (defender Jessica Brown) that we have, they know first-hand what it's like for a team to be traveling on the road in the GLIAC Tournament, and just how dangerous that team can be," Krispinsky said. "That was us last year. We're well aware of the opponent that we're facing, we're well aware of how good they are and what type of challenge that we face tomorrow afternoon.

"They're an extremely good team. They're well-coached. They have a lot of dangerous players in the attack, they're solid in the back and they have good quality midfielders. We need to stay disciplined in what we do, we have to keep them off the scoreboard and when we get our opportunities, we have to make sure that they're quality chances and we have to finish them, as well."

Tickets for Tuesday's game are $5 for adults and $2 for students with identification (after the first free 50) and children three and older. Children two and younger get in free. For a complete schedule of the 2015 GLIAC Women's Soccer Tournament, please visit the Ashland University women's soccer webpage at: goashlandeagles.com/sports/wsoc/index

Ashland University, ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report's National Universities category for 2016, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.