Stefan Christman

Brian Armstrong

The Tiger men's soccer team has made a habit of playing close games in 2002. Unfortunately, they also have lost most of them.

In perhaps the biggest game of the year on Saturday, with the Tigers hanging onto hope of earning an NCAC tournament berth by winning their final five games, Wooster took the measure of Wittenberg by a 2-1 score. It was the seventh time this season that the Tigers have lost a game by one goal (against two wins by one goal), and of those seven one-goal defeats, four have come after Wittenberg led 1-0 at halftime.

Against Wooster, senior forward Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) scored in the first half to give the Tigers a short-lived lead. But in the final 45 minutes, playing for the third time in the last three weeks with just 10 players for an entire half, Wittenberg couldn't hang onto the lead, allowing the game-winner with just 2:57 left on the clock.

Against Wabash, the Tigers had an offensive explosion that they have seen before or since. In the first four minutes of the game, Wittenberg dropped three goals into the back of the net. Armstrong had the first one, junior Steve Doring (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) netted the second and sophomore Cliff Cannon (Gahanna, Ohio/Wellington) chipped in a third. Assists went to senior Stefan Christman (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) on the first two tallies and Armstrong on the goal by Cannon.
Armstrong rounded out the scoring with a second-half penalty kick after he was tripped in the corner of the box. He leads the Tigers with eight goals and 21 total points.

The Tigers have three games remaining and a long hill to climb to reach the NCAC tournament, which includes the top four teams in the conference. Wittenberg starts off with a home game against Kenyon on Wednesday and then wraps up with road games at Oberlin and Hiram the next two weekends. In order to reach the postseason, Wittenberg must win those three games and hope for a lot of help.

The game against Kenyon will be the 2002 home finale and Senior Recognition Day. Armstrong, Christman, Josh Curtis (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), Matt Lapish (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South) and Josh Hains (Granger, Ind./Clay) all will make their final home appearance in a Wittenberg jersey.