Tigers Beat Fontbonne To Extend Win Streak

Danny Johnson

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers continued to roll through the first half of their 2011 schedule, running their program-best season-opening win streak to six with a 15-3 win over visiting Fontbonne.

Wittenberg is now 6-0, heading into a week of practice before a road trip to Adrian at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 26. Fontbonne dropped to 1-5.

The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 9-1 by halftime. After extended the lead to 14-2 by the end of the third period, Head Coach George Harris substituted liberally over the final 15 minutes.

The final shots margin was 39-17 in favor of the Tigers, and Wittenberg was just as dominant in ground balls with 34-14 to the Griffins' 14. Just as importantly, the Tigers won 19 of the game's 22 face-offs, with junior Elliot Avis (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) accounting for all 19 of those face-off wins.

Wittenberg's offense was powered by senior Matt Lord (Pickerington, Ohio/North), who scored five goals and added an assist. He now ranks third on Wittenberg's career goals list with 92, passing Mark Burrell's total of 90 between 1996 and 1999 and standing just 11 behind Jeff Mayer's 103 scored between 1988 and 1990. His six points ran his season total to 126, good for fifth in program history, one more than Dan Patterson's total between 2000 and 2003. The school record is 168 by Mayer.

Three other Tigers scored two goals apiece, and four others found the back of the net once. Senior Matt Snider (Cookeville, Tenn./Cookeville) led with two assists, while Avis topped the squad with eight ground balls. Also of note was the play of senior Danny Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), who contributed two goals and six ground balls to the team's effort.