Tigers Roll Past Mount St. Joseph 17-1

Heavy rains do nothing to slow Tigers en route to season-high offensive output.

Matt Hugdahl totaled five points as the Tigers pounced on Mount St. Joseph for a 17-1 victory. File Photo | Erin Pence
Matt Hugdahl totaled five points as the Tigers pounced on Mount St. Joseph for a 17-1 victory. File Photo | Erin Pence
April 2, 2014
Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers dominated from start to finish in a 17-1 non-conference road win over the College of Mount St. Joseph.

The win moved the Tigers to 7-2 overall, heading into the home stretch of the 2014 season. Over the final two weeks of the regular season, Wittenberg will play five straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) games in hopes of qualifying for its first league tournament.

The Tigers nearly pitched a shutout. Mount St. Joseph didn't score its lone goal until just 2:20 remained in the contest.

Along the way, Wittenberg outshot the Lions by a whopping 56-16 margin. Ten different players scored a goal in the game as every Tiger in uniform saw significant action.

In goal, freshman Aaron Blossey (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) was stellar in his first collegiate starting assignment, making two saves in 45 minutes of action. He was relieved by freshman Nick Gregory (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak), who played the first 15 minutes of his Wittenberg career.

Offensively, Wittenberg was paced by junior Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) with three goals and two assists for a career-best five total points. Junior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) also scored three goals, while sophomore Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln), senior Jordan Shoger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) and junior Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) each scored twice. Spitzer added an assist.

Sophomore Jeff Sherman (Atkinson, NH/New Hampton School) got into the act with one goal and one assist, as did sophomore Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln). Freshman Zach Shy (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), freshman Quinn McKeown (Concord, Mass./Tabor Academy) and freshman Brent Whitehead (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) each chipped in with a goal, and junior Will Stocker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) and sophomore TJ Smith (Atlanta, Ga./The Marist School) each dished out one assist and freshman Joseph Crawford (Arlington, Va./Yortktown) was credited with a pair of helpers.

Spitzer led the way in ground balls with a career-best 11, in addition to his stellar work on face-offs as he won 14 of his 20 contests. Hugdahl added four ground balls and two caused turnovers.