Merrick Austin

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg men's soccer team ended the 2010 season Wednesday night with a hard-fought 2-0 loss to Wabash College at Edwards-Maurer Field, despite a late-game empty-net set to try to even things up that led to the Little Giants' second goal.

Before the match got underway, head coach Steve Dawson and the Wittenberg Athletics Department honored the team's six seniors, including midfielder Nate Ayres (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), forward Tom Fisher (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield), defenseman Spencer Hogue (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome), midfielder/forward Merrick Austin (Westerville, Ohio/Central), forward Robbie Farquhar (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) and midfielder Tim Sparks (Cincinnati, Ohio/William Mason), who made his first varsity start.

The two teams played through a scoreless first half, Wabash taking five shots and Wittenberg six. The Tigers forced the Little Giants into one save in the period, while junior goalkeeper Michael Lambeck (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) stopped three shots.

The pace increased considerably once play resumed in the second period. Eight minutes in, Wabash became the first team on the scoreboard when Ryan Fier found the ball behind the Wittenberg defense. Lambeck tried to take the ball off Fier's foot, but the shot had energy to roll the remaining seven yards into the goal and give Wabash a 1-0 lead.

Seven minutes later, Wabash had a golden opportunity to increase the lead stripped away by Lambeck.

On a breakaway following a free kick for Wittenberg on the other side of the field, Wabash's Fier raced up the pitch and beat a lone defender to gain a free approach on Lambeck in goal. Lambeck crept out and made an improbable foot save on the shot from Fier, which caromed directly back to Diego Aliaga. Aliaga's header was a line drive towards the net, but Lambeck recovered just in time to stab at the ball and deflect it inches over the crossbar.

The rest of the match was a dogfight, and with under 20 seconds remaining the Tigers pulled their goalie to attempt to tie things up on a throw-in. After clearing the ball, Wabash fed it upfield and scored on an open net with four seconds left on the clock.

In all, Lambeck stopped 11 shots, while teammates Declan McBride (Surrey, England/Tassis), Dan Broidy (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) and Fisher paced the offensive efforts with two shots each. Ayres, Austin, Farquhar and Kevin Bond (Columbus, Ohio/Bexley) all shot once.

The Tigers finish the season with a 5-10-3 record, including a mark of 2-5-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

John Strawn '07