Levi VanReeth

The Wittenberg men's soccer team just hasn't found that perfect touch yet, that knack for finding the back of the net at crunch time to pull out a close victory. In dropping to 3-6 overall on the season, the Tigers have lost three one-goal decisions in the last four games.

All is not lost for the Tigers, however. Far from it. The North Coast Athletic Conference schedule opens with a game at perennial powerhouse Allegheny on Saturday, and a win there would go a long way toward turning the season in the right direction. In the sport of soccer, it only takes one perfectly struck ball to get the momentum going again.

Last week, Wittenberg lost a pair of heartbreaking 2-1 overtime home games. First, the Tigers lost to Cedarville last Saturday on a goal with just two minutes left. Then Wittenberg lost in almost the exact same manner to Muskingum on a goal with just six minutes left in the second overtime period.

In the Cedarville game, Wittenberg had taken a 1-0 first-half lead on its only shot, a perfectly struck ball from the top of the penalty box by junior midfielder Levi Van Reeth (Norwich, Ohio/John Glenn). But that lead didn't stand up as the NAIA scholarship program from Cedarville netted the equalizer in the second half and the game-winner on the only shot on goal credited to either team in the 18 minutes of overtime.

Against Muskingum, Wittenberg dominated much of the first 45 minutes but couldn't come up with a score. After the Muskies picked up a goal early in the second half, the Tigers got even on a score by freshman Bryan Lopes (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman)off a feed from senior Jason Ziegler (Waukesha, Wisc./West) in the 84th minute. Muskingum slipped one past freshman goalkeeper Ben McAnnis-Entenman (Portland, Ore./Cleveland) in the second overtime to get the nonconference win. McAnnis-Entenman recorded eight saves in the game as Muskingum put a total of 16 shots on the Tiger goal, compared to 11 for Wittenberg.