CINCINNATI, Ohio — Coming off two straight losses, the Wittenberg men's lacrosse team got off to a fast start to race past host Mount St. Joseph 13-9.
The win pushed the Tigers to 6-3 overall, heading into a key North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) contest at Oberlin on Saturday. Mount St. Joseph dropped to 3-7 with its third loss to an NCAC team in the 2012 season.
After taking a 2-1 lead into the second quarter, the Tigers broke the game open by scoring seven more goals by halftime to take a 9-2 lead into the intermission. Mount St. Joseph outscored Wittenberg 7-4 in the second half, including the final two goals in the last minute of the game.
Wittenberg outshot its hosts by a whopping 60-27 margin in the game, including 35-8 in the first half alone. Five different Tigers finished with at least seven shots in the game, including freshman Brandon Keiser (Reistertown, Md./Park School), who recorded his first collegiate points in just his third appearance in the Red & White.
Keiser scored three goals and added one assist, while also picking up three ground balls. Junior Alex Previte (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) also finished with three goals, while seniors George Gion (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Jim Ferris (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and freshman Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) finished with two goals apiece. Ferris also added an assist.
Freshman Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) won 15 of the 25 faceoffs in the game and also picked up a team-best four ground balls. SeniorMichael Cocking (St. Louis, Mo./CBC) and freshman Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) finished with three ground balls each.