Springfield, OH- The Tigers hosted the first official lacrosse game in The Steemer against the Colonels of Centre College. Prior to the game, Head Coach Jay Owen said it would be a tough battle between the two teams who both returned a majority of their top players. After three quarters being down, the Tigers came back in the last minute to take the lead and defeat the Colonels 9-8.
The Tigers had to answer back in the first quarter with a goal from Andrew Ellis, assisted by Connor Rice. Both teams defense held offense to a tied 1-1 game at the end of the first quarter. Wittenberg's Quinn McConkey was able to control the ball at the face-off, winning 14 of 19 to give the Tigers a slight advantage over the Colonels.
The Tigers were able to put two more on the board in the second quarter, with goals from Connor Rice on a man-up opportunity and Andrew Ellis. Tiger defense was able to hold Centre to six shots but went into halftime down by one and a score of 4-3.
McKonkey continued to win the face-off battle in the third quarter but a tough Centre goalie made it hard for Wittenberg to capitalize on shots. Noah Moderwell was able to get past Centre twice, scoring back-to-back and bring the game within one after being down 6-3.
The Tigers came back in the fourth quarter to end the game with four unanswered goals and win with a score of 9-8. Cooper Harris got things started with an unassisted goal with 10:16 left on the clock, followed by Ellis on a man-up opportunity at 6:13. Harris came back on another man-up opportunity to tie the game 8-8 and 1:17 left on the clock. Lucas Klever would get his first goal of the game in the last minute of the game unassisted to take the 9-8 lead.
Tiger goalie, Max Cavellier faced 15 shots and picked up seven saves. The Tigers were able to go 7-7 in clears saved by Cavellier.
Up Next: Wittenberg will continue their 2020 campaign on Wednesday, February 19th on the road. The Tigers will travel to Westerville, OH to take on Otterbein in a non-conference match-up at 5 PM.