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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's lacrosse team saw another memorable season come to a close Wednesday evening, falling in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, by a score of 8-6, to visiting Aurora University inside Memorial Stadium.

Otterbein, hosting its first NCAA event since the fall of 2010 (women's soccer), ends its season at 13-5 overall and unfortunately suffers a first-round defeat for the third-consecutive spring. The loss also snapped a 22-game home win streak for the Cardinals.

Aurora, also making its third trip to the dance, moves to 14-7 overall and will travel to fourth-ranked Lynchburg College (18-2) in the second round come Saturday.

"It was a great season," Otterbein head coach Colin Hartnett said. "We were able to beat a few teams that we never beat before. We also had a couple of stumbles, but had a chance to make up for it in the conference title game. Our defense helped us stay in every game this year, even the losses, and that's what we want to be about."

The Spartans held a 2-1 lead after one quarter of play, and were able to post the same 2-1 score throughout the second frame en route to a 4-2 halftime advantage.

 

Otterbein responded with a strong third quarter, out-shooting Aurora 14-4 during the stretch and scoring three-straight goals. Senior Mike Sullivan found the back of the net twice in less than a minute, followed by Connor Baak corralling a rebound and finishing strong to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead and all of the momentum.

"We just eliminated our mistakes," Hartnett said of the third quarter. "I don't think we made big changes, but more so just doing things the right way. That period was what we want from Otterbein lacrosse. We just ran out of steam a little bit in that fourth quarter."

Aurora withstood the run, bouncing back to tie the game early in the fourth quarter on a man-up goal from Danny Loyall. The contest remained deadlocked as the clock moved under 9:00 to play, but the Spartans eventually seized control with three goals down the stretch to open a lead.

Sullivan found Baak for a Cardinal goal with 51 seconds remaining, but it would be too little, too late as Aurora tallied a first-round victory for a third-straight season.

"The crowd out there was amazing,"  said defenseman Brogan Orcutt, who finishes as the program's all-time leader in games played (68) and caused turnovers (72). "I don't remember having a crowd with so much energy before.  We really appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us down the stretch this year. We wish we could have given everyone a little better outcome tonight, but playing this NCAA game in our stadium was a great experience."

Otterbein finished with advantages in many stat categories, posting a 36-28 shot advantage, 30-22 edge in ground balls and watching face-off specialist Carlos Salazar win 11 of 16 chances in the middle.

Aurora found the difference-making stretches after penalties, going 2 for 3 in man-up situations while forcing the Cardinals into going 0 for 5 on the opposite side.

"Our passes weren't very crisp in those situations," Hartnett explained. "We had some good looks, but their goalie handled the pressure and made some important saves. We kind of struggled at times with our extra-man offense this year, so that's something we'll need to continue working on."

Sullivan, suiting up for the final time in an Otterbein uniform, finished with a game-best five points with three goals and two assists. Baak also tallied a hat trick while Brandon Stroup assisted one of the goals.

JK Torres paced the Aurora attack with two goals and one assist, while goalie Cameron Brooks came up with 14 big saves.

Despite the loss, Orcutt couldn't help but get emotional when asked to reflect on the past four years of Otterbein lacrosse.

"It's been an amazing run," Orcutt said with tears in his eyes. "My freshman class came in here after a losing season and we managed to make substantial gains each year after that. It was great to be a part of and I'm extremely proud of everyone right now. I'm excited to see what they do going forward."

"We're just going to keep working," added sophomore goalie James Gundling, who finished with 10 saves. "It was about working hard for the seniors this year, and they are definitely hurting in that locker room. We'll have to mourn this loss, but us underclassmen will make sure to work hard in the summer, and fall ball, to come back and represent again next season."