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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team bounced back with a huge home win Saturday afternoon, holding on for a 10-8 victory over previously-undefeated Baldwin Wallace University.

The Cardinals, which suffered a disappointing one-goal loss during the middle of the week at Capital University, rebounded to hand the Yellow Jackets their first loss of the season, dropping them to 11-1 overall and 3-1 within the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).

Otterbein, now 10-4 this season and 4-1 in league play, will finish out the regular season at Wilmington College this coming Wednesday evening. The Cards sit one game behind Capital, who will play at Baldwin Wallace for its final league game.

Both sides traded goals throughout the period, with Otterbein eventually holding a 3-2 lead after the firs horn sounded. Stingy defense occupied the second frame as the only goals game six seconds apart, both off the stick of Cardinal senior Mike Sullivan. The sequence began with a rope into the net, followed by face-off specialist Carlos Salazar winning the ensuing faceoff and finding Sullivan for another goal.

Otterbein took that 5-2 lead into halftime, and appeared to be running away with the game early in the third after four=straight goals, opening a 9-2 margin.

Baldwin Wallace found some life when Otterbein was whistled for a pair of non-releasable penalties, giving the Jackets a two-man advantage for a minute, followed by a one-man advantage for the next. BW came out firing, scoring three man-up goals in the span followed by another goal just after the teams got back to full strength.

Shane Rakich set up a pair of BW goals early in the fourth to put even more pressure on Otterbein, seeing its lead dwindle to just a one-possession game at 9-8. Freshman Connor Dziewit finally brought the momentum back to the Cardinals midway through the fourth, ripping a shot home to give his team some breathing room.

Baldwin Wallace had another man-up opportunity late in the fourth, but a nice save from Otterbein goalie James Gundling allowed the hosts to regain possession and hang on for the win.

Sullivan and fellow attackman Robbie Guiliano each scored three times on the day for Otterbein, which also received a two-goal, two-assist performance from Connor Baak. Brandon Stroup tallied three points while Marcus Willis set up a pair of goals, running his assist total to 19 on the year.

Shane Rakich and Jarrod Gilliam each tallied a hat trick for the Jackets, who held a 21-15 advantage in shots on goal. BW gave the Cardinals some problems at the face-off X, with Alex Fioritto winning 12 of 22 and Otterbein's Carlos Salazar finishing at 10 of 19.

James Gundling played a key role once again in the cage for Otterbein, stopping 13 shots while counterpart Mike DiZonno had just five for the visitors.

Prior to the game, Sullivan, Stroup and fellow seniors Brogan Orcutt, Brent Meininger, Hayden Novicki, Jeff Dunatchik and Trevor Kujawski were all recognized as part of Senior Day.