Preseason Polls Tab Tigers at Number Four
Springfield, OH- Wittenberg will begin the 2022 season with a NCAC preseason ranking of four. The Tigers will open their season at home on February 12th against Centre. The Red & White will be led by Jay Owen in his ninth season, assisted by Daniel Shields in his fifth season and Ted Emery in his second season.
Wittenberg retired ten seniors in the 2021 class, including All-American's Lucas Klever and Jack Wolfe, but will return three top scorers and three key defenders. Looking to lead offensively in the 2022 season are Kody Gould, Noah Mackin, and Holton Boehmer who had a combined 33 goals and 35.1% shot percentage in the 2021 season. On the defensive side, the Tigers return Ben Rodell who ended the 2021 season at number seven in the NCAC for ground balls. Just behind Rodell in stats is senior Braeden Meier who collected 25 ground balls for a top 20 spot in the NCAC. Meier led the Tigers in caused turnovers, putting him at number seven in the conference. Wittenberg will also be returning face-off specialist, Ashton Horiuchi in his fourth season. Horiuchi won 65 face-offs' in the 2021 season and has a career success rate of 47.8%.
Wittenberg graduated Max Cavellier and Paxton Kreger in goal but will look to Jimmy Pedersen and Brandon Shevins to step in. Shevins saw action in two games during the 2021 season and picked up nine saves for a 75% save percentage.
The Red & White will be returning six seniors including Ben Rodell, Julio Novarini, Braeden Meier, Noah Mackin, Mario Lorelli, and Ashton Horiuchi. The Senior class had a combined 18 points, 112 ground balls, and 28 caused turnovers in the 2021 season. The last time Wittenberg saw NCAC Tournament action was in 2017, this senior class will look to take the Tigers back in their final season.
Joining Wittenberg in their first season are nine midfield players, five attackmen,and two defenders. In the midfield, Wittenberg adds Luke Stanfield, Max Schillig, Braden Ramsey, Charles Morawski, Connor Matthews, Nicholas Langenderfer, Adian Kruse, Nathan Brown, and Max Benincasa. On the attacking side, Zach Busby, Travis Demsher, Dimitri Gonzalez, Ben Holland, and Blake Roller will join the Tigers. And stepping in on defense are Eli Short and Justin Katona.
Wittenberg will host seven games on Edwards-Maurer Field beginning in February, including five conference match-ups.