Mauricio Gonzalez won the ninth and decisive contest as Carleton College (Minn.) pulled out a 5-4 victory over the UW-Oshkosh men's tennis team on Saturday (Feb. 4) at the Oshkosh YMCA Tennis Center.

Gonzalez spoiled UW-Oshkosh's 2012 season opener with his 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Adam Kasper (Jr. • Franklin) at No. 5 singles. The Titans forced the pivotal battle when Jason Alexander (So. • Fond du Lac) rallied to post a 2-6, 6-1 (12-10) victory over Ben Huang at No. 6 singles.

UW-Oshkosh (0-1) grabbed the early lead by winning two of three doubles matches. The Titans took their advantage on an 8-6 victory by Bobby Brooks (So. • Neenah) and Kevin Lewis (So. • Howard) over Paul Cooper and Peter Dunn in the first flight and an 8-3 win by Josh Hopfensperger (So. • Neenah) and Scott Niemi (Sr. • Appleton) over Gonzalez and Huang in the third.

Carleton College (2-0), which has defeated 19 of its last 24 opponents, tallied its lone doubles victory in the second flight. That contest featured Austin Jiang and Avery Rux marking an 8-4 win over Kasper and Aidan Sauberlich (Fr. • Green Bay). UW-Oshkosh notched its final team point on Sauberlich's 6-3, 7-5 victory over Nelson Wolf at No. 4 singles.

Other singles winners for the Knights were Andrew Hwang in the first flight, Dan Vollman in the second and Matthew Ta in the third. Hwang defeated Brooks, 6-2, 6-4, while Vollman ousted Lewis, 6-1, 7-5. Ta posted a 6-2, 7-6 win over Niemi.

UW-Oshkosh squares off against Luther College (Iowa) and Wheaton College (Ill.) on Friday (Feb. 10) in Elkhorn.