Second Half Avalanche By Ohio Northern Buries Tigers

Joe Poff was one of three Tigers to finish with two shots against Ohio Northern. File Photo | Erin Pence
Joe Poff was one of three Tigers to finish with two shots against Ohio Northern. File Photo | Erin Pence

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Through the first 45 minutes, Wittenberg and Ohio Northern had battled to a standoff. After the intermission, the Polar Bears took over, pouring in five goals en route to a 6-1 victory.

The loss evened Wittenberg's record at 2-2-1. Ohio Northern, which is the second team listed in the latest "Others Receiving Votes" category of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, improved to 4-1.

The Tigers struck first as junior Zack Moore (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) found the back of the net in the 10th minute. Ohio Northern came up with the answer, however, just six minutes later. From there, the two teams battled to a stand-off through halftime, with the shots count an equitable 12-9 in favor of the visitors from Ada.

The final 45 minutes were dominated by ONU. The Polar Bears directed another 12 shots on the Wittenberg goal, with five of them breaking through the Tiger defense. Wittenberg managed just four shots in response, all of which were either off target or stopped.

Three Wittenberg players were credited with two shots each in the game: freshman Teddy Price (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), sophomore Patrick Szymczak (Westerville, Ohio/South) and senior Joe Poff (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler). At the other end, senior James Van Artsdalen (Riverview, Ill./Deerfield) made nine saves for the Tigers.