After the first winning season in a decade in 2009, the Wittenberg men's lacrosse team seeks a breakthrough in the fifth year under the direction of Head Coach George Harris. He returns an experienced, talented squad that includes 25 returning letterwinners dedicated to moving up in the rugged North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).
Leading the charge offensively is junior attackman Matt Lord (Pickerington, Ohio/North), who finished the 2009 season with team-highs 29 goals and 39 total points. His performance earned Lord second-team All-NCAC honors, a year after his promising freshman season was derailed by injuries.
Junior attackman Brady Christensen (Medina, Ohio/Medina) also looks to pick up where he left off in a tremendous 2009 season. He added 17 goals and 12 assists for the Tigers to rank among the team's offensive leaders in 2009, in addition to 35 ground balls — tops among the team's attackmen. Junior attackman Matt Snider (Cookeville, Tenn./Cookeville) also returns up top for the Tigers after contributing 11 goals and 11 assists a year ago.
A trio of players play primary roles in the midfield, starting with senior co-captain Jeff Capella (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), a two-time All-NCAC selection who finished with 16 goals and a team-high 15 assists in 2009. Senior co-captain Ted Winders (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) also returns after finding the back of the net 16 times in 2009, in addition to junior Mitch Cohagan (Pickerington, Ohio/North), a second-team All-NCAC selection a year ago with 26 goals and 33 total points, both second on the team.
On the defensive end, junior Dan Gaines (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) is the most accomplished returning letterwinner after a fine 2009 season that ended with second-team All-NCAC honors. He picked up 32 ground balls on the season. The other returning starter on defense is junior Ryan Spain (Concord, NH/Bishop Brady).
Junior Kevin Pfotenhauer (Chesterfield, Mo./CBC) is the Tigers' primary faceoff man again in 2010 after winning a little more than 52 percent of his draws and picking up 52 ground balls — second on the team — a year ago. Another key returning player is junior Danny Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), who led the team by a wide margin in ground balls with 79 to also rank among the best in the NCAC.
In the net, the Tigers have multiple quality options, starting with junior Mark DeOliveira (East Hanover, NJ/East Hanover), an honorable mention All-NCAC honoree in 2009 who recorded 103 saves and a .589 save percentage. He started nine games, while sophomore Spencer Baker (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) appeared in six games, starting four. He finished with 37 saves and a save percentage of .575.
Written By: Tom Fisher '11
Photo By: Erin Pence