Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's soccer team provided fans in Memorial Stadium a match for the ages Wednesday evening, sparking a late flurry of goals to force overtime with 24th-ranked John Carroll University before falling, 5-4, in double overtime.

The Cardinals (7-5, 0-2 OAC) were faced with an uphill climb early in the second half after committing an 'own goal' and watching the Blue Streaks put in two others in the 45th and 49th minutes, taking a 3-0 margin.

Otterbein's challenge grew steeper after a red card to defender Josh Kellner at the 49:57 mark, forcing the Cards to play a man-down for the remainder of the match.

Otterbein first got on the scoreboard in the 73rd minute after a John Carroll 'own goal,' but John Carroll (9-2, 2-0 OAC) responded less than two minutes later on a goal from Jacob Lombardo to push the advantage back to three, at 4-1.

Junior Luis Rivas began Otterbein's furious comeback attempt as the game clock ticked under 11:00 to play, scoring off a cross from Conor Holland at 79:49 and then again just 40 seconds later after another nice pass from Holland into the box.

Time appeared to be running out on the Cardinals, but leading-scorer Jared Pulliam broke free down the right side with under 30 seconds remaining as the crowd rose to its feet. Pulliam's shot attempt was saved by a sliding JCU defender, but sophomore Ross Pfeil charged in to gather the rebound and finish strong with 19 seconds left as the Cardinal faithful erupted.

 

"Usually when a team of that caliber has you a man down, they completely control possession and take you to the cleaners, so to speak," Otterbein Head Coach Gerry D'Arcy said. "Our kids never wavered. We changed our formation a bit because we needed to score goals, and just stayed persistent with it down the stretch."

Both sides played through a scoreless first overtime before the Blue Streaks escaped victorious, getting Karol Boryka's fourth goal of the year after teammate Kevin Pachuta saved a ball down near the end line and send a sliding pass through a crowded box. Boryka was there to one-time it and promptly end the match.

Despite the loss, D'Arcy was beyond pleased with the fight that his group showed throughout a chippy, physical match that featured many ups and downs.

 "The heart and spirit of our players continues to impress me," D'Arcy said. "You can't really say much after a match like that because they left it all out on the field. We are disappointed because we wanted get at least one point out of it entering overtime, but the effort and execution in that second half was something to admire."

Otterbein finished with a slim 18-16 shot advantage as both Jenkins and Cardinal freshman Mack Stamper had five saves each in their respective nets. The game featured 23 fouls, three yellow cards and one red card.

The goals for Rivas were his third and fourth of the year while Brian Potocnik, a sure candidate for OAC Player of the Year, tallied two of his own on the John Carroll side, running his total to eight this season.

Otterbein will gather itself and return to action Saturday afternoon in what will be another important OAC outing at cross-town rival Capital University. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.