Los Angeles, Calif. – It was a back and forth battle on the day, as the Wittenberg men's lacrosse team suffered a tough 13-12 overtime loss to the Poets of Whittier College. Noah Moderwell led the offensive charge on the afternoon, logging five goals on 10 shot attempts. It was a tight battle on the ground, as the Tigers took 13 of the 27 faceoff wins with Whitter owning 14 wins. The Red and White converted on 21 of 25 clear attempts while forcing 24 Whittier turnovers and picking up 28 ground balls on the day.
Game Breakdown
Whittier took an early 3-0 lead starting with back-to-back goals at the 14-minute mark, adding their final goal of the first period with just under nine minutes to go. Moderwell opened the scoring, finding the back of the Whitter net with 6:18 left in the first period. Andrew Ellis found Matthew Welch for the second Tiger goal with just under three-minutes to goal, before Jerry Coyle stung the third Wittenberg goal to bring things back to even. Wittenberg took advantage of the man-up penalty midway through the second period, as Ellis picked up his second assist, finding Lucas Klever for the fourth Tiger goal. Whittier responded with two goal, taking a 5-4 lead into the half. Wittenberg came out of the break on the attack, scoring three straight goals and regaining a 7-5. Cooper Harris started the attack, before Ellis followed up with back-to-back goals of his own. Heading into the fourth period tied at 7-7, Moderwell posted the first two goals giving the Red and White a 9-7 advantage. As the two sides traded goals, Wittenberg held a 12-10 lead with just under 3 minutes to go, before Whittier found the two scores before the final buzzer to force an overtime period.
Who Stood Out
Anthony Lebarge caused four Whittier turnovers on the day, picking up six ground balls for the Red and White. Jack Vierra forced three turnovers, picking up three ground balls, while Mario Lorelli caused two turnovers while picking up three ground balls.
UP NEXT
Wittenberg will return home to host the Crusaders of Capital University on Wednesday, Mar. 13 at 7:00 PM from Edwards-Maurer Field.