Men’s Soccer Celebrates Senior Day With 5-1 Win Over Hiram

Wittenberg celebrated men's soccer Senior Day with a convincing 5-1 win over Hiram
Wittenberg celebrated men's soccer Senior Day with a convincing 5-1 win over Hiram

Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's soccer team closed out the 2018 season by sending their senior class off with a 5-1 win over Hiram on Senior Day at Edwards-Maurer Field. The Tigers finished the 2018 season with an overall record of 7-10-1, which matched the 2014 squad for the best overall record in the program's last 10 years.

By The Numbers

After falling behind midway through the first half on an unassisted goal from Hiram's Giovanni Meza, the Tigers exploded for five second-half scores to post the four-goal victory in the season finale. Senior forward Alberto Zaragoza opened the scoring onslaught with a pair of goals in the 47th and 50th minutes of action. Fellow senior Kevin Helt was credited with the assist on Zaragoza's first goal at the 46:13 mark.

After a Hiram own goal made the score 3-1, Wittenberg freshman forward Mitch Burns entered the match and scored back-to-back goals in the final 20 minutes to close out the scoring in the match. Zaragoza was credited with the assist on the first goal to give him five total points in the match.

Zaragoza closed out the regular season as the points leader in the North Coast Athletic Conference with 30 total points on two assists and a league-leading 14 goals. The 14 total goals this season tied Brad Armstrong for the fourth-most goals scored by a Wittenberg men's player in a single season.

In addition to Zaragoza and Helt, classmate an co-captain Jack Snider also had a solid outing in his last-career match with the Red & White, making three total saves over the course of the 90-minutes of action.

Wittenberg also celebrated the careers of co-captain Austin Lewis and Christian Randazzo as part of the pre-game Senior Day ceremony. Lewis ends his career at Wittenberg as a two-time, All-NCAC selection, while Randazzo highlighted his senior season by scoring the opening goal in the Tigers' 2-1 win at Wooster back on October 6th.