Box Score

DELAWARE, Ohio – The Tan and Cardinal women's lacrosse team earned themselves an exciting victory Thursday afternoon, scoring eight times in the second half and walking away with an 11-7 road win at nearby Ohio Wesleyan University.

The win, marking the first triumph over the Bishops since becoming a program, moves the Cardinals to 4-3 on the season while OWU falls to 1-5 so far this spring.

"We have struggled a bit lately, but have also played some really good teams," head coach Stephani Schmidt said afterwards. "We are finally getting healthy and, more importantly, we executed well today. I thought we read situations well and adapted accordingly."

Ohio Wesleyan took a 4-3 lead into halftime, but the Cardinals stormed out in the second half with five-straight goals to take the lead. Tory Blatt and Katy Williams each scored twice during the spurt while Rebecca Carter added another.

"Team commonly try to mark Tory and faceguard her quite a bit," Schmidt explained. "We trusted in ourselves and took our opportunities as they came. I think everyone did their part well."

The Bishops came firing back after the Cardinal run, scoring three-straight times in less than 90 seconds to get back within a possession, at 8-7, with 11:10 showing on the game clock.

Otterbein would regain control for good, watching junior Annie Kelly score twice over the next two minutes before Nicole Coccagno added an insurance goal down the stretch. Coccagnno set up Kelly for one of those goals before netting her own.

"We were very patient on offense in that second half," Schmidt said. "We panicked a few times in the first half when things got hectic, but found a way to stay with it and get the ball back. Our girls adjusted to their pressure and, as a result, were able to play a lot of offense today."

Kelly led Otterbein with four points, posting a hat trick and assisting on another goal. She also made her mark in other areas of the field, tallying six groundballs, causing three turnovers, winning two draw controls and converting both of her free-position attempts.

Blatt, Carter and Williams all scored two times as the Cardinals more-than doubled up the Bishops in shot attempts, 33-15.

The Otterbein defense was solid throughout, holding the opposition to the second-lowest output of the season. Goalie Ariel Petroval made seven saves and collected three groundballs.

"I think we would be happy with that number (7) against anyone, because we have been a little up-and-down defensively," Schmidt said. "We have a freshman goalie that will continue getting better and gaining confidence as we moved forward. Overall, the team stepped up today and played really well."

Otterbein will now have two weeks off before its next game, an April 1 matchup at Transylvania University down in Lexington, Ky.