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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After going winless in their last three games, the Tigers needed a win over Cedarville to gain some momentum going into this weekend's conference opener against Denison. Wittenberg got their victory in a thrilling overtime battle, defeating the Yellow Jackets 2-1.
The outcome did not look very promising for the Tigers as they trailed 1-0 at the half. Ken Davis got the Yellow Jackets on the board with just over five minutes remaining in the half. Davis' goal was assisted by Grant Knight, who corralled a lose ball in front of the net to set up Davis. The Tigers had a barrage of scoring chances in the 34th minute, but they could not score as Cedarville goalie John Norton stopped three shots from point blank range. Wittenberg also had a goal disallowed in the 38th minute of the half as Joe Zeller's (Springfield, Ohio/North) header was wiped off the board after he was called for offsides.
Just when things appeared most bleak, senior Ian Acker (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) netted the tying goal with just under 20 minutes to play. His long range shot was just over Norton's hands into the top left corner. Neither team had another good scoring chance in regulation, but the Tigers capitalized on one of their own early in the overtime period. Freshman Shane Price's (Minford, Ohio/Minford) second shot in overtime found the back of the net after a breakaway, giving the Tigers the victory. Seconds earlier Price had a shot on goal, but it went wide.
The game included a tremendous amount of offense as the teams combined for 28 shots, with Wittenberg holding a narrow 15-13 advantage. The game was also very physical as 25 fouls were called, 15 on the Tigers and 10 on the Yellow Jackets. Wittenberg assists were credited to freshman Michael Condon (Powell, Ohio/Watterson) after his throw in set up Acker's goal, and sophomores Jay Knox (Gahanna, Ohio/St. Charles) and Matt Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Alter), who teamed up on Price's goal to beat the Cedarville defense with two quick passes into space.