Box Score

DELAWARE, OHIO - Otterbein, ranked fourth in the latest NSCAA/HendricksCars.com national rankings and fifth in the D3soccer.com poll, jumped on top of Ohio Wesleyan early and eventually played to a 4-2 victory Wednesday evening.

The Cards struck immediately as Jenny Knox converted a penalty kick just 23 seconds into the game after OWU committed a foul in the box.

Otterbein would push the lead to 2-0 in the 11th minute when Lindsey Rudibaugh took a give-and-go pass from Adrienne Novak, beat a defender and put the ball into the right side of the net.

Otterbein continued to control the contest, and extended the margin to 3-0 at the 25:27 mark after Rachel Degen found her way to a cross in front of the net and finished in traffic for her first goal of the season. Rudibaugh was credited with the assist after feeding the ball into the box from the right baseline.

Makinzie Krebsbach found the back of the net three minutes later for Wesleyan after winning a loose ball in the box, marking the first goal scored against the Cardinals this season.

The Cardinals responded right before halftime with Molly Kroger taking a corner kick from Cristen Herold and burying it into the top portion of the goal for the 4-1 halftime advantage.

OWU cut the deficit to 4-2 in the middle of the second half when Erica Lowell scored off a direct free kick from 25 yards away, but that was as close as the Bishops would get as Otterbein preserved a 4-2 victory.

Otterbein held a 28-8 shot advantage, including a 13-5 edge on goal.

Margot Klepetko stopped nine shots for Ohio Wesleyan while Tara Carter came up with three saves for the Cardinals.

The team returns to action this weekend, traveling to take on Carnegie Mellon (PA) Saturday at 5 p.m.