Wittenberg Trumps DePauw 17-6 In Battle Of The Tigers

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Wittenberg advanced to 6-5 overall and 4-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 17-6 win over visiting DePauw University on Wednesday afternoon at Edwards-Maurer Field.

The host Tigers opened up the scoring with four straight goals before DePauw managed to answer in the closing action of the first quarter. Wittenberg never looked back, scoring five times in the second quarter while holding DePauw scoreless.

DePauw found their footing in the third quarter to pace the hosts as each team scored four goals, but Wittenberg got back into defensive gear in the fourth quarter, outscoring the visitors 4-1.

Wittenberg won the faceoff battle 15-11 including a 5-of-6 first-quarter mark for senior Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie), who finished with 13 of the team's total faceoff victories. The host Tigers were a sturdy 14-of-17 on clears and outshot the visiting Tigers 52-16 in the game.

Senior Ryan Spitzer (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) scored four times to lead the team while senior Lewis Thompson (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) finished atop Wittenberg's points column with two goals and three assists, matched in goals by junior Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) and his one assist for three points, and junior Thomas Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln).

Other goal scorers for Wittenberg included sophomore Austin Brady (Pickerington, Ohio/North), senior Matt Hugdahl (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie), junior Jeff Sherman (Atkinson, NH/New Hampton School), freshman Danny Lowe (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), freshman Sam Gress (Granville, Ohio/Granville), sophomore Joseph Crawford (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) and junior Anthony Becker (Galloway, Ohio/Wellington School). Junior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Crawford also added single assists to their game totals.

Lowe championed the team's possession efforts with five ground balls, followed by Kelleher with four and sophomore David Strahm (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Andrew Fuss with three each. Six Tigers finished with a caused turnover, including Boehm, Thompson, junior Will Stocker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), senior Nick Bergenty (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), junior Matthew Klever (Lebanon, Ohio/Moeller), and Gress.

Wittenberg sent three keepers into throughout the game, starting with senior Jay Dolan (Andover, Mass./Phillips Andover) who made four saves in 30 minutes. Sophomore Aaron Blossey (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) manned the goal in the third quarter and sophomore Nick Gregory (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) stopped two shots in the fourth.

Wittenberg now hits the road for two straight NCAC games, starting at Wooster on Saturday, April 11, at Noon, followed by a 4 p.m. tilt at Wabash on Wednesday, April 15.

John Strawn '07