WOOSTER, Ohio – It was as close as they come most of the way, but a matchup between rivals the College of Wooster and Wittenberg University went the way of the Tigers on Saturday as they scored the game-winning goal with just two minutes left to win 12-11.
Wittenberg improves to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with the win while Wooster falls to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in the NCAC.
Wittenberg opened the game with a 3-1 first quarter after sophomore Zach Shy (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) started the scoring with an unassisted goal. After Wooster answered, junior Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) scored back-to-back goals off assists from his twin brother Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln).
Wooster reclaimed the lead heading into halftime by winning the second quarter 5-2, including the first three goals of the period. Junior Anthony Becker (Galloway, Ohio/Wellington School) scored to break up the string before Wooster scored twice more, and the half was capped by Thomas Fuss scoring his third goal of the game, again off of his brother.
The Tigers pushed back in the third quarter, outscoring their hosts 5-3 as Shy and Thomas Fuss scored in succession, Thomas again with help from Andrew, before Wooster broke things up. The last 3:50 of the quarter went wild as junior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) popped one in for the Tigers to start a series of five goals in the closing minutes. Wooster scored with 1:54 remaining, but just 15 seconds later, Andrew Fuss got his turn to score thanks to an assist from Thomas. Senior Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) broke through for a goal with just 49 seconds left, and Wooster scored as the horn was sounding to cut Wittenberg to a 10-9 lead after three periods.
In the fourth, Wooster scored first to tie things at 10-10, but Andrew Fuss found his way to the net at 9:28 to take a one-goal lead. IT took Wooster almost six minutes to answer and tie the game at 11-11, but it took Wittenberg only 1:40 to score the game's final and winning goal as Andrew Fuss converted a pass from junior TJ Smith (Atlanta, Ga./The Marist School) with 2:00 remaining.
Andrew Fuss finished the game with three goals and four assists to lead the offensive efforts, backed up by Thomas Fuss with a team-high four goals and one assist. Shy finished with two goals and Hugdahl, Kelleher and Becker all had one. Junior Will Stocker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), senior Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) and Smith accounted for one assist each.
The ground game was led by senior Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and freshman Danny Lowe (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) with four ground balls each, while sophomore David Strahm (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) hassled Wooster into two turnovers on his own while picking up three ground balls. Thomas Fuss also had three ground balls to go with one caused turnover, while junior Matthew Klever (Lebanon, Ohio/Moeller) had one of each.
In goal, senior Jay Dolan (Andover, Mass./Phillips Andover) made 10 saves on the day. An even game across the board saw Wittenberg outshoot the Scots only 51-46 and win 13 faceoffs against Wooster's 12. The Tigers had 20 turnovers against Wooster's 18 and went 15-for-18 in clears, compared to the Scots' 14-of-22.
Wittenberg rounds out the conference schedule with a 4 p.m. clash at Wabash on Wednesday, April 15.
John Strawn '07