Tigers Start a Streak of Wins

The Tigers have been knocking at the door all season. On Saturday, they may just have banged it in.

Sophomore Taggart Suddes (Ostrander, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) converted a penalty kick with 9:20 left in the first overtime to lift Wittenberg to a 1-0 victory over defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday. The loss snapped Ohio Wesleyan's NCAC-record streak of 23 straight conference wins. The Bishops¹ last loss came Oct. 28, 1998 ‹ also a 1-0 overtime loss to Wittenberg.

The foul was called in the midst of a flurry of activity in front of the Bishop goal. Wittenberg junior Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) drilled a shot that bounced off the crossbar and Suddes, the league's leading scorer, tried to head the rebound, but the attempt was short and the scramble to get possession was ended by a whistle. Suddes then sent his penalty kick low and to the left, past a sliding OWU goalkeeper who got to the ball but couldn¹t control it. Senior goalkeeper Danny Carman (Louisville, Ky./Male) finished with six saves for Wittenberg in recorded his fourth shutout of the 2001 season. His goals against average ranks among the best in the conference at 1.05.

The win over OWU, which pushed Wittenberg's record against teams ranked in the Great Lakes Region to 3-2-1, was the Tigers' second crucial NCAC win of the week. On Wednesday, the victim was Earlham in a come-from-behind 4-2 win. Armstrong tallied two goals and an assist in the win, including what turned out to be the game-winner early in the second half. Armstrong had six goals and two assists in back-to-back outings against Oberlin and Earlham.

In addition to what the wins did for the Tigers' hopes for the 2001 season, they also inched Head Coach Steve Dawson closer to his landmark 200th career victory. He will try to become just the 35th active coach with 200 or more victories when the Tigers travel to Wabash on Wednesday.