SEWANEE, Tenn. – The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team nearly had their first win of the 2015 season in hand before the hosts ripped off three straight goals to finish the game and send the Tigers to a 13-12 loss on Wednesday night.

Wittenberg built a 4-3 lead in the first quarter and closed the second and third quarters with the same one-goal lead at 7-6 at half and 10-9 after 45 minutes. Sewanee opened the fourth quarter with a goal, but Wittenberg scored the next two goals to regain the lead. That's when the hosts scored three straight goals over the final 11 minutes to claim the come-from-behind victory.

The entire game was played in a thick fog, which limited visibility. The loss dropped Wittenberg to 0-3 on the season, while Sewanee improved to 3-1.

Senior Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) poured in five goals throughout the course of the game as Wittenberg fell to 0-3 on the season, and senior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and sophomore Joseph Crawford (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) each counted two caused turnovers and three groundballs among their final stats.

Kelleher, sophomore Zach Shy (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and senior Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) each had two goals while junior Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) rounded out the scoring with one. Fuss also posted one assist, matched by junior Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln), freshman Danny Lowe (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Crawford.

One definite area of strength in the game was the faceoff circle, where senior Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) posted an eye-popping line of 20-for-25, easily the best outing of his career in the role. He and Lowe added five ground balls apiece.

Wittenberg went 15-for-16 in clear attempts and won the turnover battle by committing just 12 against Sewanee's 16, while outshooting the hosts 42-30. A key stat was man-up situations, as Wittenberg finished 0-for-2 and Sewanee was an efficient 4-of-5.

Wittenberg commences the North Coast Athletic Conference schedule with a road game at Hiram on Saturday, March 14, slated for a 2 p.m. start. 

John Strawn '07