Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men’s soccer team dropped a non-conference outing Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 to visiting Denison University at Clements Field.

The Big Red (1-0-1) scored in the opening minutes when Blake Miller found his way to a loose ball in front of Otterbein goalkeeper Kyle Ripma and finished it home.

Otterbein (1-1) later evened the match, with substitute forward Aaric Milligan fighting to win a ball from the defense in the box before beating the keeper.

The Big Red wasted no time responding, going ahead 2-1 less than a minute later when Miller notched his second goal of the contest, this time on a header after teammate Bob Casarona sent a cross into the box.

Denison senior Adam Severs tacked on the team’s third goal late in the first half, giving the visitors a 3-1 lead entering halftime.

The Cardinals closed to within 3-2 in the 62nd minute when sophomore Jared Pulliam rebounded a deflected save to score, but Denison held its ground and added an insurance goal late as Miller completed a hat trick.

Otterbein held a slim 11-10 shot advantage for the match, taking five corner kicks compared to Denison’s four.

Matt Wagner stopped seven shots between the pipes for Denison, while Ripma finished with two saves.

Otterbein returns to action on Thursday, hosting Ohio Christian University at 4 p.m. The Cards played to a 1-1 draw at OCU last season.