Tigers Keep NCAC Hopes Alive With Win Over Wabash

Jason Sucher

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers were in a must-win situation entering the game against North Coast Athletic Conference foe, Wabash. Knowing that, the Tigers did what they had to do Tuesday at Edwards-Maurer Field and defeated the Wabash Little Giants, 4-0.

The Tigers, who moved to 6-7-2 overall and 2-3- 1 in the conference, must win their remaining conference games to have a chance to compete in the NCAC Tournament for a second straight year. The Little Giants fell to 2-11-2 overall and 1-4-2 in the NCAC.

Wittenberg scored in the first minute of the game, providing a huge momentum boost. The goal, scored by junior Joe Zeller (Springfield, Ohio/North), came after the ball ricocheted off two Wittenberg forwards before it was passed back out by sophomore Jimmy Thinnes (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and then knocked into the back of the net.

The rest of the first half was all Tiger defense as Wittenberg did not allow Wabash a single shot on goal.

The second half was all the Tigers again, but this time it was the Tigers' offense that did the trick. Senior forward Jason Sucher (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) scored seven minutes into the half to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Just six minutes later the Tigers were on the scoreboard again. This time it was sophomore Matt Borland, who scored on a breakaway after outrunning his defender and placing the ball nicely in the lower lefthand corner past the Wabash goalkeeper. Wittenberg's scoring drive was not finished yet, as Sucher scored his second goal of the match in the 65th minute. Similar to the first goal of the game, the ball bounced off a Wabash player back to Sucher, and Sucher hit the ball into the lower right hand corner for the goal.

The rest of the game was completely dominated by Wittenberg. Launching five shots on goal and only allowing the Little Giants two shots, the team's last home game of the season.