OBERLIN, Ohio – Wittenberg men's lacrosse won for the 26th time in the last 27 meetings with Oberlin, taking advantage of a fast start to cruise to a 12-9 victory over the Yeomen.
It was Wittenberg's 11th consecutive win over Oberlin, dating back to an 8-7 loss in 2004, and it improved the Tigers to 7-3 overall on the 2013 season. More importantly, Wittenberg remains in the hunt for one of the four berths in the first-ever North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament with a 2-2 league mark with three games left on the schedule.
Wittenberg started fast, pulling out to a 6-2 advantage through the end of the first quarter, an edge that eventually ballooned to 11-5 on a man-up goal by senior Alex Previte (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) with 10:09 left in the game. Oberlin then scored four goals in a four-minute span to close to within two before senior Tyler Hall (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) put the game out of reach with another man-up tally with 1:58 showing on the clock.
A whopping 22 penalties were whistled in the game, and both regularly took advantage. Oberlin finished 4-of-9 in man-up situations, while Wittenberg was 5-of-13.
Sophomore Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) was again exceptional on face-offs, winning 16 of the 21 he contested in the game. The Tigers' 29 ground balls were distributed very evenly, with juniors Jacob Gilbert (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and Hunter Bastian (Knoxville, Tenn./Horace Greeley) leading the way with four apiece.
Offensively, three players finished with three goals each: junior Jordan Shoger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights), Previte and Hall. Freshman Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) added two goals and two assists, while freshman Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) was outstanding with one goal and team-season-high four assists. Hall and sophomore Lewis Thompson (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) also contributed two assists to the attack.