Tiger Offense Breaks Out In 4-0 Victory Over Bluffton

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After opening the 2013 season with a 4-2 win over Muskingum, the Wittenberg Tigers scored a total of five goals in the next five games. On a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon that served as the Tigers' home opener, Wittenberg's offense got back on track in a 4-0 whitewashing of Bluffton.

The win moved the Tigers to 3-4 on the season, while Bluffton fell to 0-4. The exhausting grind of eight non-conference games in the season's first 20 days finally comes to an end Wednesday, Sept. 18, when Wittenberg hosts Mount St. Joseph.

Wittenberg jumped on top quickly against the Beavers, setting the tone for the big win with a goal by junior Mitch Rudibaugh (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) at the 5:30 mark of the first half. He collected a shot that had been stopped by Bluffton's defense and buried his shot into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

In the 25th minute, the Tigers struck again. This time, it was freshman Grant Hinkebein (Lexington, Ohio/Lexington Catholic) getting his first collegiate goal off a feed from senior Kevin Bond (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley).

Wittenberg essentially put the game out of reach less than three minutes into the second half on a goal from sophomore Zack Moore (Kettering, Ohio/Alter). He headed in a cross from junior Reed Glosser (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) to make it 3-0. Bond rounded out the scoring in the 62nd minute off an assist from Glosser.

Wittenberg outshot Bluffton 19-11 in the game and held a commanding advantage in corner kick opportunities of 7-1. Juniors James Van Artsdalen (Riverwoods, Ill./Deerfield) and Jeff Mengerink (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) each were credited with one save in the game for the Tigers.