SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers continued their annual early season tour of the Ohio Athletic Conference on Wednesday, and for the first time in 2005 they came out on top. After tying Otterbein on Saturday and falling by one goal to John Carroll on Sunday in the Wittenberg Invitational, the Tigers returned to the home pitch on Wednesday and captured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Wilmington.

Wittenberg improved to 1-1-1 on the season heading into a weekend doubleheader with DePauw and Rose-Hulman, also in the friendly confines of Edwards-Maurer Field.

The Tigers, once again featuring a lineup dominated by underclassmen and without junior Sebastian Missura, the team's leading scorer the last two years, played Wilmington, a perennial powerhouse program, to a scoreless draw through the first 45 minutes. It was an evenly played half of soccer, with the two teams splitting 13 shots almost evenly.

Just over six minutes into the second half the Tigers broke through on a goal by freshman Mike Conley off a throw-in by freshman Matt Borland. Conley's header was all junior goalkeeper Adam Horrocks needed as he recorded the first shutout of the season for the Tigers. He was credited with nine saves in the game, compared to seven for his Wilmington counterpart, and the final shots count wound up being 15-14 in favor of the Quakers.