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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers opened what they hope will be a successful 2006 season on a positive note, rallying from an early 1-0 deficit to beat American Mideast Conference power Ohio Dominican University in both team's opener of the Wittenberg Invitational.
Things looked a little shaky for the Tigers in the beginning as the Panthers scored just six minutes into the game. Shan Wade's header found the back of the net, just over the arms of a diving Wittenberg goalie Adam Horrocks (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes). Wade was nicely set up from teammate Joey Held's cross.
Wittenberg would not be kept out of the scoring column for long, though. In the 18th minute, sophomore Shane Price (Minford, Ohio/Minford) scored the first Tiger goal of the season. Ohio Dominican goalie Chris Eaken came out of the box to stop the ball and was met by Price, who quickly cut by Eaken and found an empty net.
The scored was tied 1-1 at the half, and Wittenberg came out roaring in the second half. Senior Kenny Proops (Charleston, W.Va./Central Catholic) scored just 15 minutes into the second half, taking advantage of a deflection off a Panther defender to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Price was credited with the assist on the play.
Ohio Dominican narrowly missed a chance to tie the game when Held's shot rocketed off the crossbar in the 65th minute. Almost 12 minutes after this narrow miss, junior Joe Zeller (Springfield, Ohio/North) contested the Ohio Dominican goalie and scored an unlikely insurance goal. Eaken attempted to clear the ball but he hit a leaping Zeller in the back, with the deflection going into the goal.
For the game, Wittenberg was credited with 12 total shots, compared to Ohio Dominican's 16. Horrocks, who got credit for the assist on Wittenberg's first goal, and the solid Tiger team defense was the difference as he had 12 saves to Eaken's eight. The game was also very physical as Wittenberg had 14 total fouls and Ohio Dominican had 13 and also featured three yellow cards, two for the Panthers and one for the Tigers.
Ohio Dominican comes back Sunday for a 3 p.m. game against Kenyon, which lost its Wittenberg Invitational debut 2-1 to Otterbein earlier in the day. Wittenberg squares off with Otterbein on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., with the winner claiming the title. Otterbein has won two of the last three Wittenberg Invitational championships.