Tigers Feel The Effect of Unfortunate Injuries

Matt Borland

The Wittenberg men's soccer team has had an uneven start to the 2005 season, and injuries are becoming a factor after the Tigers opened up with nine games in 18 days. However, Wittenberg now has just three games over the next 18 days, starting with Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference opener against Kenyon, to heal up and prove to the rest of the conference and region that they will be a force to be reckoned with.

The Tigers stand at the halfway point of the 2005 season with a 3-3-3 record after playing an extremely challenging early season schedule. Since opening the campaign with a tie and a loss against Ohio Athletic Conference powers Otterbein and John Carroll, respectively, in the Wittenberg Invitational, the Tigers, who feature no less than 10 freshmen in their regular playing rotation, have been inconsistent, especially on defense, but also entertaining and competitive.

Three of the team's top four scorers are freshmen, led by midfielder Matt Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Alter), who has asserted himself as the team's playmaker on offense. Freshman Mike Conley (Xenia, Ohio/Beavercreek) has come on strong with seven total points and freshman Shane Price (Minford, Ohio/Minford) has dazzled with his speed on the outside in accumulating five total points despite a recent injury.

Also of note is the play of senior midfielder Brian Mutton (Fort Wayne, Ind./ Canterbury), who has six points on the season, which doubles his total scoring output of the last two seasons combined. He has been a physical force in the midfield, something necessary in the absence of junior Sebastian Missura (Quito, Ecuador/American School), who has missed the entire season so far due to injury after leading Wittenberg in scoring each of the last two seasons.