SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team turned a three-goal second-half deficit around on Oberlin by outscoring the visitors 9-4 in the final 30 minutes for a 13-9 victory on Tuesday.
Defending Edwards-Maurer Field, the Tigers improved to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).
Wittenberg jumped on the board first as sophomore Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) opened the scoring 2:10 into the game. Oberlin netted the next two to take its first lead of the game with 5:28 remaining in the first quarter, but the Tigers answered with a tally from sophomore Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) two minutes later.
Oberlin outscored the Tigers 3-2 in the second quarter, posting the first two goals of the period before Thomas Fuss and junior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scored back-to-back. That preceded a man-down score for Oberlin that left the Yeomen leading 5-4 at the half.
Oberlin picked up the first goal of the third quarter before senior Jack Bornhofen (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) earned it back, but the Yeomen responded with two more in as many minutes to stake a claim to an 8-5 lead.
That's when everything changed. Wittenberg mounted a six-goal run, including scores from Bornhofen, Kelleher, and senior Jordan Shoger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) assisted by Brett Wilson (Lenexa, Kan./St. James Academy) in a man-down situation to tie things up at 8-8. The go-ahead goal came from Thomas Fuss on an assist by Shoger before the end of the third period.
The Tigers then poured it on with four goals in the fourth quarter against one for Oberlin to establish the final margin. Thomas Fuss was assisted by brother Andrew to open the fourth and Shoger followed up four minutes later before Oberlin tacked on its final score. Andrew Fuss scored off an assist by sophomore TJ Smith (Atlanta, Ga./The Marist School) and Bornhofen to finish things up.
For the game, Thomas Fuss led the Tigers with four goals and added four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Bornhofen finished with three goals, while Shoger, Andrew Fuss and Kelleher each scored twice.
Junior Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) picked up a team-best five ground balls followed by four from freshman David Strahm (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Thomas Fuss.
Junior goalkeeper junior Jay Dolan (Andover, Mass./Phillips Andover) made 14 saves against nine goals allowed to improve to 7-2 in front of the net on the season.
The Tigers won despite a 33-23 deficit in ground balls, but the defense held steady by holding Oberlin to 7-of-13 in clears.
Wittenberg continues the NCAC slate with a big game against fourth-ranked (USILA) Denison at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, at home at Edwards-Maurer Field.
John Strawn '07