GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team fought intensely against 17th-ranked Denison on the road on Saturday, but a big second half by the Big Red sent the Tigers home without a win, falling by a score of 13-6.
Wittenberg moves back to even at 4-4 overall but still owns a 2-1 record in the North Coast Athletic Conference ahead of a showdown with perennial contender Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday, March 31.
At Denison, the Tigers clung to a one-goal deficit at halftime, down just 5-4 after launching into the contest with a 3-1 opening quarter thanks to two goals by senior Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and one from junior Jeff Sherman (Atkinson, NH/New Hampton School).
The Big Red came back with a 4-1 second quarter to take the 5-4 halftime lead, with Hugdahl providing the only goal of the quarter for the Tigers.
The quarter again saw Hugdahl with Wittenberg's only goal as Denison outscored the visitors 3-1 before shutting the door with a 5-1 fourth quarter, in which senior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scored the Tigers' goal.
For the game, Hugdahl counted four goals and sophomore Zach Shy (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) finished with two assists, while junior TJ Smith (Atlanta, Ga./The Marist School) and sophomore Austin Brady (Pickerington, Ohio/North) each had one assist, with Brady trailing Shy by only one for the lead in the shots column where Shy had six.
Away from the scoring columns, senior Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) led the possession efforts with six ground balls, followed by Smith with four and two each from a quarter of Tigers, as Smith topped the roster with two caused turnovers in the game.
Wittenberg senior goalkeeper Jay Dolan (Andover, Mass./Phillips Andover) made 11 saves, while the turnover game was even at 16-16 and Wittenberg succeeded in 12 of 14 clear attempts.
John Strawn '07