WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's lacrosse team will make a piece of school history come Wednesday evening, hosting the schools' first-ever NCAA Tournament game in the sport at 7:30 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals, 13-4 on the season and holding the Ohio Athletic Conference's automatic bid, will be the home team against Aurora University (Ill.) to begin the 32-team field. The Spartans, winners in nine of their last 10 outings, currently sit 13-7 overall and finished a perfect 6-0 within the Midwest Lacrosse Conference.

"Aurora is a young team, but definitely a very good team," Otterbein head coach Colin Hartnett said. "They have been solid ever since they started playing lacrosse and have a lot of NCAA experience. I'm sure they'll be ready for us."

The teams played five common opponents throught the 2015 season (Albion College, Adrian College, Wittenberg University, John Carroll University and The College of Wooster), with Otterbein posting a 2-3 mark and Aurora going 1-4 against the competition.

Otterbein overcame a somewhat surprising regular-season loss at cross-town Capital this spring, avenging the defeat by winning 8-5 against the Crusaders in the OAC Tournament Championship game. The Cards, holding a 22-game win streak at Memorial Stadium, will be making their third-straight NCAA appearance after enduring a first-round loss each of the past two seasons.

"This is new territory for us," Hartnett said of having a home game. "But we are a young program and every year has been a new experience. It's incredibly exciting to not travel and have our group get two days of preparation here in our own facility. We're hoping for a good crowd to come out and cheer us on."

Otterbein has been led this year by a balanced offensive attack, which includes a combined 82 goals from senior Mike Sullivan and junior Robbie Guiliano. Marcus Willis, Connor Baak, and Brandon Stroup are also important factors while freshman Connor Dziewit has contributed nicely in his inaugural season.

The Cardinals have thrived with strong defensive play this year, getting a team-high 22 caused turnovers from reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Year Brogan Orcutt. He is complimented by classmate Trevor Kujawski and junior Adam Norris.

"We have faced a bit of adversity this year, but we stuck together and turned things around rather quickly," Orcutt said. "I couldn't ask for any better teammates or coaching staff to go to battle with. This is, by far, the best team that I have ever been a part of. The feeling of losing in the NCAA's hasn't left us, so we'll harness that and try to ride with it. Ultimately, it will come down to playing our team game and controlling the aspects that we can control."

Otterbein will prepare to handle an All-American middie in Aurora's Max Obriecht, who currently has a team-best 47 goals on the year. To make his contributions more impressive, Obriecht is also 62 percent as the Spartans primary faceoff specialist. He is joined by Garret Rosiek, 32 goals and a team-high 44 assists, to make up a dangerous offensive duo. 

Regardless of Aurora's offensive laurels, Harnett feels confident in the attributes of his group.

"Each team has their own identity, and our strength this year has been defense," Hartnett explained. "We have a lot of pieces that make up the puzzle and I think, with two years of NCAA Tournament experience under our belt, that it will help us this time around."

The game could be decided at the faceoff-X, where Obriecht and Otterbein's Carlos Salazar will surely battle it out. Salazar currently sits at 66 percent on the year, most recently winning 15 of 16 attempts in the conference championship.

"We always expect Carlos to give us an edge," Hartnett said. "We know their guy is terrific, but we know our guy is terrific as well. For us to be successful, we need to gain an advantage in that part of the matchup."

Otterbein goalie James Gundling, with 140 saves and a .567 save percentage, will provide a solid back line of defense while Spartan goalie Cameron Brooks, 139 saves and .509 save percentage as a sophomore, will look to build on his first year as a full-time starter.

"We have such a positive mindset," Orcutt added. "It's a tremendous opportunity to have a home game this time around. Road games have sometimes gotten the better of us, so to play the first NCAA game in our new stadium is truly an honor. We're going to give it everything we have."

As of now, fans can follow the action via live stats, live video and live audio coverage (media links are also included on the schedule page). Tickets will be $3 for adults and $2 for both seniors and students. Kids under the age of 2 will be admitted free of charge.