Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Otterbein University got back into the win column Wednesday evening, cruising to a 4-1 victory against Cincinnati Christian University.
The Cardinals move to 4-4 on the season with the win, dropping the Eagles to 2-5-1 as a result.
Otterbein struck almost immediately to open the match, which was played at the Xavier University Soccer Complex. Senior captain Dustin Kiaski found the back of the net off an assist from Josh Kellner in the fourth minute, followed by a score from sophomore Jared Pulliam in the 17th. Conor Holland was credited with an assist on Pulliam’s goal.
Otterbein extended the lead to 3-0 shortly before intermission when Pulliam found Kiaski for his second goal of the contest.
Cincinnati Christian tallied a goal of its own just 1:05 into the second half, as sophomore Nathan Chesnut found the back of the net to put his team on the board.
Otterbein would not let the Eagles claw any further, and added a late score when freshman Luis Rivas recorded his first-career goal with under five minutes remaining.
Kiaski assisted on the Rivas goal to finish with five points on the evening. Otterbein goalkeeper Kyle Ripma and CCU keeper Taylor Meredith each came up with four saves.
"We had a few rough outings last week, so it feels good getting this win heading into conference play," Kiaski said shortly afterwards. "Jared Pulliam did great things from the wing tonight and Luis really worked hard to get that final goal."
Cincinnati Christian held a 21-19 shot advantage, but Otterbein took eight corner kicks compared to just five for CCU.
The Cardinals have the weekend off to rest before opening Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play against Baldwin Wallace College on Sept. 29. Starting time from Clements Field is set for 3:30 p.m.
"This is the strongest team I've been on since coming to Otterbein," Kiaski added. "This extra time off allows us to work on specific aspects that need improvment... taking what we've learned from our recent matches and applying them to our conference slate. We will work hard to meet our expectations of making the OAC Tournament at season's end."
