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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's lacrosse team turned in a rather impressive performance Wednesday evening, jumping all over The College of Wooster early and then holding on late to preserve a 14-9 victory.

Senior Robbie Guiliano scored twice in the game, allowing him to pass Andrew Donatelli and become Otterbein's all-time leading goal scorer with 109. Wooster, entering the game at 7-2 overall, snaps a four-game winning streak with the defeat.

Otterbein, improving to 5-4 on the season, scored seven unanswered goals in the first half to head into the locker room with a nice cushion. Marcus Willis, Connor Baak and Connor Dziewit each scored twice during the surge, with the highlight moment coming when senior defenseman Adam Norris scooped up a ground ball at full speed, flew up the sideline and then assisted on one of Dziewit's goals to erupt the Otterbein faithful.

 

Otterbein ran its lead to 9-0 early in the third quarter, but Wooster kept the Cardinals on guard by scoring three-straight times in an 82-second span to trail 9-3 at the 9:27 mark. Guiliano tallied his record-setting goal just six seconds later when classmate Carlos Salazar won the ensuing faceoff and set up the quick score.

"This was a pretty special game and it means a lot to have my name at the top of a record category," Guiliano said. "But really, I need to mention the guys that have come through this program before me, the ones who I'm playing with now and all of my coaches. Those are the people who deserve thanks and recognition because they have pushed me every step of the way."

The Cards carried a 12-3 advantage into the fourth quarter and remained ahead at 12-5, with less than six minutes remaining, before the Scots strung together a late surge against Otterbein's second unit. Wooster's Nathaniel Miller netted four goals in the span to help shrink the final margin.

"We were on fire for three quarters tonight and then slacked a little bit at the end," Guiliano explained. "We will need to focus on finishing games and getting that entire 60 minutes of solid play to make sure we get the right results moving forward,"

Willis scored four times to lead Otterbein as five players tallied multi-goal efforts. Salazar was absolutely dominant in the middle, capturing 17 of his 20 chances at the 'X' to help the Cards retain possession throughout. He also tallied a game-best 11 ground balls.

Goalie James Gundling stopped 12 shots in the cage for Otterbein before being relieved by backup Matt Niemi over the final 10:46. The two sides combined for 85 shots (48 on goal) but only went 2 for 9 on extra-man opportunities.

Aaron Levy and Tyler LaCroix combined to stop 11 shots in goal for Wooster.

Otterbein will finish out the week with its final non-conference game, heading to Washington and Jefferson on Saturday afternoon. Guiliano noted the importance of the team hitting stride as Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play approaches.

"Saturday is our last non-conference game so this week is big in terms of momentum heading into OAC play," he said. "We have been a little up and down so far this season but tonight was a game to get us up above. 500. It's nice to have this type of performance as we prepare for our OAC schedule."