SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University men's soccer team (4-5-5, 3-1-1 NCAC) traveled to Springfield to play Wittenberg ( 5-5-5, 2-3-1 NCAC) on Wednesday night. Despite scoring two goals in the second half, the Battling Bishops' efforts fell short when they were unable to score a third in the final five minutes for a tie, ultimately losing 3-2.
Wittenberg took the lead in the game in the 38th minute after steady pressure through the opening moments, scoring on their 10th attempt and their fifth shot on target. Up until then, the Bishops were quiet offensively, finally getting off their first shot in the minute after the goal – off target to the right to leave the score at 1-0 heading into halftime.
The Tigers quickly increased their lead 2-0 in the beginning of the second half with a goal in the 53rd minute. OWU then stepped up their offensive efforts and recorded their first goal of the game in the 65th minute by
Brady Catanzarite.
Not wanting to back down, the Tigers came back with a third goal in the 77th minute to go back ahead by two at 3-1. Shortly after, OWU scored a second goal by
Vittorio Renda in the 86th minute.
The Bishops had one final shot to equalize in the 89th minute, but missed over the bar, resulting in a 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
THE NUMBERS
Wittenberg held the advantage 19-7 in shots, 10-3 in shots on goal, and 10-4 in corner kicks. OWU made seven saves compared to the Tigers' one.
Vittorio Renda scored his second goal of the season.
Brady Catanzarite recorded his fifth goal of the season as the top scorer for the Bishops.
Zach Hertzberg (0-4-3) had seven saves during his 90 minutes in the net.
UP NEXT
The Red and Black compete against Denison in Granville on Saturday at 1 p.m.
