Wittenberg Remains In NCAC Hunt With Tie Against Earlham
It wasn't the result that the Wittenberg Tigers wanted, but in the end it was better than a loss. After dominating action for most of the game on Wednesday, the Tigers were forced to settle for a 1-1 tie with the visiting Earlham Quakers.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It wasn't the result that the Wittenberg Tigers wanted, but in the end it was better than a loss. After dominating action for most of the game on Wednesday, the Tigers were forced to settle for a 1-1 tie with the visiting Earlham Quakers.
Wittenberg is now officially in a dogfight for North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament positioning. Allegheny, which defeated Wittenberg in Springfield last Saturday, was upset by Hiram on Wednesday and Denison, who got off to a terrible start to the conference portion of the schedule, rebounded with a 2-1 overtime win over Wooster on Wednesday to even its record at 3-3 with three second-division teams left to play. Wittenberg, which started the NCAC schedule 3-0, is now 6-5-4 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference heading into a three games in eight days stretch to close the regular season starting Saturday at Hiram.
The Tigers likely will have to beat the Terriers and then Wabash next Wednesday on the road and then either defeat or tie Wooster at home on Oct. 29 to earn their first-ever berth in the four-team NCAC Tournament. As many as six teams are still very much alive for a chance to play for the NCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg's last of four all-time appearances in the national tournament came in 1996.
On Wednesday, the Tigers controlled almost all of the first half action, but they were unable to finish offensive attacks time and again. In the second half, things opened up more, with Wittenberg getting the first goal on a touch by freshman Shane Price off a feed from freshman Matt Borland. It was Price's first score in his first game in more than a month due to injury.
However, Earlham evened things up, taking advantage of a defensive breakdown to split the defense and score a goal on one of just five shots directed at the Tigers' net in the entire game, including the two overtime periods. Wittenberg junior goalkeeper Adam Horrocks recorded four saves, including three in the second half of regulation. The Tigers outshot Earlham 18-8 overall in the game.