Box Score
WESTERVILLE, OHIO – The Otterbein University men’s lacrosse team fell to 5-3 on the season Wednesday afternoon with a 9-5 loss to Kenyon College in Memorial Stadium.
Kenyon, which defeated Otterbein 19-1 a year ago, improves to 4-5 this season with the win.
Kenyon tallied two goals within the first 2:18 of the game, but Otterbein would weather the storm and cut the deficit in half courtesy of a goal from sophomore Graham Shippy at the 5:03 mark.
Will Lowe and Max Olson each found the back of the net for the Lords minutes later, and Otterbein would end the first quarter trailing 4-1.
The Cards went into halftime down just 5-1, and sophomore Alex Dowell would help the Cardinals take advantage of a Kenyon unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by notching a man-up goal just 24 seconds into the second half.
Sophomore Adam McGrath pulled Otterbein to within 5-3 after a nice dish from Mikey O’Neal, but Kenyon would register an important goal with just eight seconds to play in the third period to stretch its lead to 6-3.
Otterbein would get no closer in the fourth en route to the 9-5 defeat.
“They caught us on our heels in the first half, but things got much better once we were able to settle down,” Head Coach Colin Hartnett said. “It’s tough to go out and play a team that beat you by 18 goals last season, so it began as somewhat of a mental challenge.”
“We were in a position to get the game going our way by the second half,” Hartnett added. “We were glad to keep them under ten goals because they are a more experienced team, but we just weren’t able to create enough offense to win.”
Kenyon held a 39-25 edge in shots despite the Cards holding an 18-14 advantage in the second half. Otterbein was successful on 15 of 19 clear attempts, and the teams were nearly even on faceoffs with the Cards winning nine of 17.
Austin Anusbigian performed impressively in goal for the Lords with 12 saves, while Otterbein goalkeeper Adam Hatchard came up with nine stops of his own.
“He stepped up in some key moments and kept them game under control,” said Hartnett of Hatchard’s play. “He’s the reason we were able to get it back within striking distance.”
Otterbein next travels to make-up a game with Lake Erie College Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. before returning home to host Adrian College (MI) Wednesday, April 13. Game time vs. Adrian is set for 4 p.m.
“This stretch against three good teams will be a nice challenge for us,” said Hartnett. “Despite losing today we were able to take come confidence away from our performance in the second half.”
