Tigers Take Three Very Close Losses

Kyle Prussing

Sometimes, winning is about believing. The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team, with a roster full of underclassmen, must begin to believe in itself.

Throughout the season, the Tigers have been oh-so-close to pulling off victories against quality opponents, but with the exception of a 12-11 NCAC win over Kenyon on April 7, Wittenberg has come up short every time. The latest examples were an 11-10 overtime loss to defending NCAC champion Ohio Wesleyan on April 21, a 14-8 defeat against Colorado College on April 25 and a 16-15 loss to Kenyon in nonconference action on April 27. All three games were played on the Tigers' home turf at Edwards-Maurer Field.

They were the last three appearances for the team's five seniors: attacker Hans Rydquist (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), goalkeeper Kyle Prussing (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle), midfielder Andy Buck (Dublin, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), defender Jim Kelley (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and long stick middie Andy Labarre (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer). Labarre missed the last half of the season after suffering a knee injury.

In the loss to Ohio Wesleyan, one of three teams currently tied for first place in the NCAC, the Tigers had their chances. Wittenberg led much of the game, and three fourth-quarter goals put the Tigers up one in the waning moments. But Ohio Wesleyan scored the equalizer with 37 seconds left and then got a "golden goal" in overtime to pull off the victory.

The offensive star of the game was sophomore Cory Windle (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), who had a career-high six goals. Freshman Cory Griffiths (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) added two goals and freshman Adam Morrison (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) contributed three assists. Prussing made 14 saves in the game while facing a 43-shot barrage from the Bishops.

Against Colorado College, a bad third quarter was the story, as it has been on several other occasions this season. Trailing just 6-4 at the halftime intermission, Wittenberg was outscored 8-4 in the second half, including by a 5-1 margin in the third quarter. Griffiths, Rydquist and Morrison had two goals apiece and freshman Sammy Hong (Dublin, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) chipped in with two assists.

Against Kenyon, the game went back and forth throughout before the Lords scored three straight fourth-quarter goals to take what turned out to be an insurmountable 16-14 lead. Freshman Jay Shimko (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) scored the game's final goal with eight seconds remaining, but there wasn't enough time for the Tigers to mount a realistic threat on the Kenyon goal after that.

Rydquist finished wtih four goals and Griffiths, Morrison, Windle and Hong added two scores each. Buck scored the game's first goal just seven seconds into play, which is believed to be a Wittenberg record.

Wittenberg wraps up the season at Wooster on Saturday. The Scots, also tied for first in the NCAC currently, defeated Wittenberg 10-5 in Springfield on April 10 after the game was tied 4-4 at halftime.