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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers knew that preseason North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) favorite Ohio Wesleyan would provide a stern test, even after the best start in school history. The Battling Bishops, an NCAA Division III Tournament semifinalist a year ago, indeed proved too tough as the Tigers, ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region coming into the game, dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision.
The Tigers were on the defensive early in the game. Ohio Wesleyan, which clinched the NCAC regular season title with the win, came at the Tigers with speed right from the beginning. The Tigers found themselves down 1-0 in the first half as Tyler Wall hit an amazing shot that bent into the back post. The barrage didn't stop there, however, as OWU continued to pressure the Tiger defense, outshooting the Tigers 5-1 in the first half.
In the second half, the Tigers came out a different team. They worked harder, went into tackles harder and played with more heart and desire. But after several quality scoring chances went for naught, including a header by senior forward Shane Price (Minford, Ohio/Minford) that was cleared away by an Ohio Wesleyan defender near his own goal line, the Tigers' hopes were dashed as a goal off a deflected ball gave the Battling Bishops an insurmountable 2-0 lead.
Even with the game out of reach, the Tigers put up a good fight until the final seconds before accepting just their second loss of the season. Wittenberg, which was outshot 12-4 overall but did pick up six saves from freshman goalkeeper Michael Lambeck (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), was shut out for the first time in the 2008 season. Even so, the coaching staff took note of the play of freshman midfielder Andy Sharek (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) and senior midfielder Jimmy Thinnes (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle), who turned in fine defensive efforts.
Wittenberg heads into its regular season finale against Hiram at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, with records of 15-2-0 overall and 6-2-0 in the NCAC.
Written By: Brenton Dawson