SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team made history Tuesday night with their first win over nationally-ranked Denison since the varsity program was reinstated in 1983. The Tigers used an overtime, sudden-victory goal to send Denison packing 9-8.
The Tigers, winners of six straight, moved to 8-2 on the season to officially post their best start since 1983, as well. With two North Coast Athletic Conference games remaining on the schedule, the Tigers improved their record to 3-0 with the win.
After a defensive stalemate in the first quarter, the Big Red and the Tigers paced each other with two goals headed into halftime. Wittenberg creeped ahead with three goals to Denison's two in the third, but the visitors scored four against the Tigers' three to knot things up in the fourth quarter.
In a four-minute sudden victory overtime period, Wittenberg owned all the momentum with a 7-1 advantage in shots. After 2:19 had elapsed, the Tiger offense launched several shots in short order and junior attackman Chris Gipson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua) picked up a rebound and fired the game-winning goal from close range to seal the historic victory.
Though Gipson scored the game-winner, junior midfielder Mitch Cohagan (Pickerington, Ohio/North) carried the day as the Tigers' only multiple-goal scorer, finishing with four, including the eighth tally which came just before a four-goal Denison run in the fourth quarter and ended up as the goal which preserved the tie.
Sophomore faceoff-man Elliot Avis (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids)went 13-for-21 against a Denison unit winning 60 percent of their faceoffs entering the game, giving the Tigers an immediate advantage on the field.
Junior defensive midfielder Danny Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) led with seven groundballs and also scored one goal on two shots. Avis picked up three groundballs, match by junior attackman Matt Lord (Pickerington, Ohio/North) and junior goalkeeper Mark DeOliveira (East Hanover, NJ/East Hanover).
DeOliveira spent the entire game in front of the net to pick up the win on 10 saves. The defense held Denison to 38 shots, seven below their season average, while the offense launched 41, 13 more than Denison typically allows.
Other goal scorers for Wittenberg included junior Matt Snider (Cookeville, Tenn./Cookeville), senior Ted Winders (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township)and freshman Alex Previte (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), all with one apiece.
The Tigers get back at it with a Sunday, April 18, game hosting Colorado College at Noon at Edwards-Maurer Field.
Written by: John Strawn '07