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DELAWARE, Ohio – Otterbein University rallied from a five-goal deficit to tie the game at 10-10 midway through the second half, but ultimately fell short in a 14-12 road loss at Ohio Wesleyan University Wednesday.
The Cardinals, now 1-1 this season, will resume action Friday evening with a 7 p.m. contest at Oberlin College. The victory marks the first of the season for OWU (1-2).
Otterbein grabbed an early 2-0 lead after goals from Victoria Blatt and Courtney Hilfinger, but the Bishops strung together the next seven scores in opening a five-goal advantage.
The Cards battled back and closed to within 7-6 with 1:23 remaining in the half before OWU eventually took an 8-6 edge into intermission.
The Bishops pushed the margin to 10-6, but Otterbein countered with four goals in a row, two coming from freshman Annie Kelly, to draw even with 17:07 showing on the game clock.
The Cards fell behind 13-10 before goals from Blatt and Hilfinger made it a one-score game again, this time with 7:52 to go.
Neither team would be able to score over the next six minutes, but the Bishops netted a goal with 2:10 remaining that helped secure the win.
“I am proud of the overall effort and how far we’ve come,” said Otterbein head coach Stephani Schmidt, who saw her team fall 20-8 to Wesleyan last season. “We were definitely in this game, but just weren’t able to make enough plays to win.”
Wesleyan held a 33-27 shot advantage for the game while also winning 17 of 28 draw controls. The Bishops were 7 for 11 on clear attempts compared to Otterbein’s 8 of 20 effort.
Blatt and Hilfinger combined for 7 of the Cardinal goals while Kelly chipped in two. Blatt also tied for a game- best four draw controls.
Meredith Wholley paced OWU with a game-high five goals while Taylor Weis added four.
Otterbein freshman Karen Brady played well in the cage, tallying 11 saves on 33 shots faced.
“We executed well when we had the ball and Karen made some great saves in the second half,” Schmidt said. “Had we won the draw control more and were able to get the ball out on defense when we caused turnovers, then it may have been a different outcome. I’m disappointed but still encouraged moving forward.”
