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BEXLEY, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team punched its ticket to a third-straight NCAA Division III Tournament Saturday evening, winning its second-consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Championship with an 8-5 triumph at Capital University.

The Cardinals, seeded second in the bracket after suffering a 7-6 loss at the regular-season champion Crusaders (14-3) earlier this spring, improve to 13-4 on the year and receive the league's automatic qualifier spot to next week's NCAA event. The Division III Selection Show will be streamed online at 9 p.m. Sunday evening.

"Our guys stepped up big time tonight," head coach Colin Hartnett said. "I think we were hungry after losing here earlier in the season and really had a much better idea of who Capital was. We made some adjustments and made sure to finish the job."

 

Otterbein took control from the get-go, getting the only goal of the first quarter off the stick of senior Mike Sullivan almost five minutes in. A motivated Cardinal squad extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals from Brandon Stroup in the second period before Capital finally got on the board just before halftime.

The Cards dominated the third frame, using stingy defense and efficient play on the offensive end to outscore the hosts 3-0 during the quarter. Stroup found Robbie Guiliano to begin the period, followed by goals from Connor Baak and Brent Meininger that gave Otterbein a 6-1 cushion heading to the fourth.

Capital did not go quietly, scoring three-straight times over the initial four minutes of the fourth quarter to keep the game interesting. Otterbein eventually stymied the run, responding with goals from Guiliano and Sullivan en route to victory.

"We know the rest of the league has been coming for us," Hartnett said afterwards. "Everyone is catching up but we have also put a good team out there. It's a big deal anytime you can win a conference title. I'm so proud of our guys."

Stroup led Otterbein with three points in the game while Guiliano and Sullivan scored two times each.

Otterbein finished with a 34-20 shot advantage and controlled the game behind face-off specialist Carlos Salazar, who was almost perfect by going 15 of 16 in the middle. He enjoyed a bit of redemption after struggling in the semifinal round.

Brogan Orcutt had three caused turnovers for the Cardinal defense while he, Adam Norris and Trevor Kujawski combined for 12 ground balls. James Gundling made seven stops in goal while Cole Palmby had eight for Capital.

Otterbein will now look to advance in the upcoming NCAA Tournament after being eliminated in the first round each of the past two seasons.

"We don't really have a mindset right now as it relates to next week," Hartnett explained. "We won't think too much about it until we know who our opponent is, because it could be anyone. Everything has happened so fast recently, so we are going to enjoy this championship for a short while."