Box Score

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Otterbein University women's soccer team tallied a critical Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) road win Tuesday evening, scoring a pair of late goals to leave with a 3-1 triumph over host John Carroll University.

The Cardinals, improving to 6-2-3 on the season after a fifth-straight win, now sit 2-0 in league play and will host cross-town rival Capital University Saturday afternoon in what will be another key matchup.

Otterbein opened the scoring in the 19th minute of play when senior defender Alex Ancona, the reigning OAC Player of the Week, ripped an initial shot that was saved by JCU keeper Haley McDonald. However, Cardinal senior Melinda Stemen was there to quickly clean up the rebound and net her third goal of the year.

Otterbein took the 1-0 margin into halftime after out-shooting the Streaks, 14-4, in the opening half, but John Carroll (7-3-1, 1-1 OAC) responded to draw even on a goal from Preston Mendel at the 66:32 mark.

The Cardinals held off a John Carroll rally over the next few minutes, getting three saves from goalkeeper Dana Strimbu to stay locked at 1-1. Otterbein went on the attack from there, getting the game-winner on a persistent sequence from leading-scorer Jillian Strimbu, who had a fist shot blocked near the edge of the box but stayed with it to rip a second attempt that hit the crossbar and fell down into the goal.

Sophomore Madison Burchfield added an insurance goal on a breakaway less than 90 seconds later, watching McDonald stop an initial shot from Megan McCabe but found herself in great position on the rebound to finish near the left side.

Otterbein doubled up the Blue Streaks in total shots, at 25-11, and both sides attempted four corner kicks throughout. McDonald finished with 10 saves for the home squad while Dana Strimbu had a season-high six on the other end.

Otterbein now turns its attention to rival Capital, who handed the Cardinals a pair of closely-contested, 1-0, losses last year in Bexley en route to beating John Carroll in the conference final. Otterbein previously won the 2012 regular-season championship with a 2-1 home win over the Crusaders in the regular-season finale.