Wittenberg Wins Second Year in a Row in Baltimore

Baltimore, MD-For the second year in a row, Wittenberg men's lacrosse traveled to the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland to play during Spring Break. After their win last year over Emmanuel, the Tigers notched another win this season, defeating the Alfred Saxons by a score of 12-11. With the win, the Tigers move to .500 on the season at 2-2 while the Saxons fall to 1-3 on the season.

Wittenberg notched a one goal advantage after the first quarter as Ethan Pac (Greenwood, IN / Cathedral) scored just two minutes into the game off of an assist from Dillon McKeigue (Olmstead Township, OH / St. Edward). Alfred answered, but with a minute and a half left in the quarter, McKeigue scored a goal of his own to put the Tigers up on.

In the second, Alfred started by tying the game at two and then Nathan Brown (Dublin, OH / Coffman) scored his first goal of the game to put the Tigers up by one yet again. This time, the Saxons answered, but scored another to take a one goal lead in their favor. This time, it was Wittenberg's turn to answer, and they did, as Pac scored again from another great pass from McKeigue with just over three minutes remaining in the half. With that goal, the teams headed into the locker room in a tie game at four apiece.

Wittenberg came out on fire in the third quarter. The Tigers scored back to back goals from McKeigue and then Pac, to notch a hat trick on the game for him. Alfred scored one more to cut the deficit to one, but the Tigers added two more on goals from Nicholas Langenderfer (Montgomery, OH / St. Xavier) and Brown, for his second goal of the game. The Saxons scored once again, this time cutting the lead to two, but Pac scored a goal by taking a shot behind his head while falling to the ground and McKeigue scored once more in the quarter, now giving McKeigue the hat trick, and took a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

To start the fourth McKeigue scored again to make the deficit five, but Alfred started their bid for a comeback, scoring two unanswered goals before Ty Harris (Cincinnati, OH / Sycamore), scored an unassisted goal with a one man disavantage to bring the score to 12-8. That's when the scoring stopped for the Tigers, over the next six minute of the game, the Saxons scored for goals to cut the deficit to one. Then, they proceeded to win the faceoff with 57 seconds left and clear the ball to get into their offensive attacking zone, but their last chance shot with only four seconds remaining, went wide to secure the win for the Tigers.

Quote from Head Coach Jay Owen

"Credit to Alfred for playing hard and making us earn it today. Especially at the face offs, beating us 16-7. Proud of our effort today on the ground balls and in the clearing game. When you lose the face off battle by the margin that we did, you must win the ground ball and clearing battle in order to get the possesions you need to win the game."

Team Leaders

• Pac and McKeigue led the team in goals with four each and Brown added two to the tally.
• McKeigue also paced the team in assists, adding two to his line, with Brown and Quentin Rudolph (Grand Rapids, MI / Forest Hills Central) each adding one.
• Max Benincasa (Shaker Heights, OH / Shaker Heights) had seven ground balls to lead the team, while three other players recorded three.

Team Comparison

• Wittenberg led in ground balls, 27-24, and clear percentage , 25/27 (93%) to 16/20 (80%).
• The Tigers also boasted a hige lead in shots, winning that battle 47-29.

The Tigers, next game will be at home against Marietta College on Saturday, March 15th at 1:00 PM at Edwards-Maurer Field.