Mitch Cohagan

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — For the second straight year, the Wittenberg Tigers were in control of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) title chase until the final game of the campaign. And for the second straight year, the Tigers' hopes of a first-ever outright championship were dashed by Ohio Wesleyan — this time with a heart-breaking 7-6 home defeat.

As a result, there is a three-team logjam atop the NCAC standings for a second straight year as Denison, Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg each earned a piece of the title with matching 4-1 records. The loss dropped Wittenberg to 11-1 overall on the 2011 season with two non-conference games remaining at Washington & Jefferson and Otterbein. Ohio Wesleyan is now 10-3.

Things started well enough for the Tigers as senior Matt Lord (Pickerington, Ohio/North) found the back of the net just 1:31 into the first quarter off a feed from senior Mitch Cohagan (Pickerington, Ohio/North). It was Lord's record-tying 103rd career goal, but that turned out to be the lone first-half highlight for Wittenberg as Ohio Wesleyan answered with four goals in the first quarter and two more in the second to stun a boisterous Senior Recognition Day home crowd with a 6-1 advantage by halftime.

The final 30 minutes featured a complete about-face as the Tigers dominated play, particularly in the fourth quarter. After making just one save on seven shots directed on the Tiger goal in the first half, senior goalkeeper Mark DeOliveira (East Hanover, NJ/East Hanover) sparked a furious Wittenberg comeback with a tremendous second-half performance. He allowed just one third-quarter goal while coming up with seven saves after the intermission.

In the end, it wasn't enough. The Tigers closed to within 7-4 by the end of the third quarter and then got within one goal with 3:48 remaining. But the Battling Bishops, behind 10 saves from goalkeeper Stephen Ford, held strong despite a Wittenberg power play in the closing seconds. The Tigers never got a shot off in the final sequence, working the ball around the perimeter of the OWU defense for nearly 30 seconds before a pass near the crease was broken up. After a mad scramble, the Battling Bishops emerged from the pack and were able to clear the ball just far enough upfield to out the clock.

Cohagan led the Tigers with two goals and two assists, while Lord, senior Chris Gipson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), senior Brady Christensen (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and senior Danny Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) each contributed a single tally. Senior Matt Snider (Cookeville, Tenn./Cookeville) added an assist. Elsewhere on the stats sheet, Johnson and sophomore Alex Previte (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) led with four ground balls each, while Previte and Christensen were tops in caused turnovers with two apiece.