SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The temperature may have been some 40 degrees colder than it was a week earlier in Florida, but the Wittenberg Tigers continued their hot offensive play with a 12-7 victory over North Coast Athletic Conference rival Oberlin in their home opener at Edwards-Maurer Field.
The Tigers moved to 2-1 on the young season. They are scheduled to return to action Wednesday, March 21, when the College of Mount St. Joseph comes calling.
Playing in front of a noisy St. Patrick's Day crowd, Wittenberg got off to a hot start and never looked back in this one as the Tigers struck for the first three goals of the game and moved out to an 8-3 lead by halftime. The two teams split eight second-half goals.
The offense was kickstarted by freshman Jeff Capella (Worthington, Ohio/Kilbourne), who found the back of the net twice in the game's first four minutes before he added an assist on Wittenberg's third goal. Capella went on to score five goals in the game and finish with a total of six points.
He had plenty of help, starting with freshman Tim Gates (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover), who finished with a game-high eight points on three goals and five assists. Freshmen Brian Welton (Germantown, Tenn./Houston) and Ted Winders (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) added a goal and an assist each.
Wittenberg held a 53-18 advantage in shots in the game, forcing Oberlin goaltender Drew Zambelli into 22 saves and a team-high nine ground balls. The edge in total team ground balls went narrowly to the Tigers, 38-37, while freshman Jeff Boucher (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) did the job on face-offs, winning 15 of 23 in the game. Defensively, the Tigers picked up six saves from senior netminder Pat Garlock (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles).