Tiger Sticks Go Cold in the Fourth After Productive First Half

Memphis, TN - The Tigers looked to get back on track against the Otterbein Cardinals in a neutral site matchup at Rhodes College as Spring Break came to a close. Despite the Tigers coming out on fire, their sticks cooled down to a freezing point over the course of the second half and ended up dropping another game, falling to 1-6, as the Cardinals improved their record to 3-4 on the season, coming away with the 10-7 win.

In the first quarter, the Tigers couldn't be stopped as Tripp Salowich (Oakwood, OH / Oakwood) opened the scoring and Quentin Rudolph (Grand Rapids, MI / Forest Hills Central) followed up with a goal to double the Tiger lead. Ethan Amidon (Rochester, NY / Brighton) added a third Wittenberg goal and Charlie Frederick (Chagrin Falls, OH / Chagrin Falls) won the faceoff and lauched the ball past the Otterbein goalie to close the first half scoring with a 4-1 lead. In the second, Otterbein started a comeback, scoring three goals, but Ty Harris (Cincinnati, OH / Sycamore) scored a goal as well to help the Tigers take a one goal lead into the locker room. Noah Baker (Hiram, OH / Crestwood) and Matthew Patterson (Columbus, OH / Westerville South) each found the back of the net while the Cardinals scored once to give Wittenberg a 7-5 lead with 11 minutes reamining in the third quarter. In the remaining 26 minutes of the game, Wittenberg failed to score again, as Otterbein scored five unanswered goals to take the win away from the Tigers, 10-7.

Team Leaders

• No Tiger had more than one goal with seven different players scoring.
• Salowich was the lone Tiger with an assist, which came on Patterson's goal
• Harris led the team with 14 shots and was the top player in shots on goal with six.
• Frederick paced the team in groud balls, picking up six to go along with his game-leading seven face off wins.

Team Comparison

• Wittenberg had seven goals, one assist, 43 shots, 24 on goal, and 27 ground balls, 21 turnovers, and 12 caused turnovers.
• Otterbein tallied 10 goals, six assists, 26 shots, 17 on goal, 20 ground balls, 26 turnovers, and five caused turnovers.
• Wittenberg was 26-for-28 in clears, while Otterbein was 30-for-37. In face-offs won, the Cardinals were 4-of-18 and Wittenberg won the other 14.

The Tigers return to action for their conference opener as they will take on Wooster Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 PM at home.

Written By: Grant Martin