Box Score

BEXLEY, Ohio – The Otterbein women's lacrosse team was dealt a tough loss within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Wednesday evening, falling by a score of 11-6 at cross-town rival Capital University.

The untimely loss, dropping the Cards to 5-9 overall and 3-3 against the league, damages Otterbein's chances of making next week's four-team OAC Tournament. The Cardinals will need to win at league-leader Mount Union (12-3, 6-0 OAC) this coming Saturday at 1 p.m. and also have Baldwin Wallace lose at Wilmington in order to earn the final spot.

Capital (10-4, 5-1 OAC) got off to a strong start and opened a 3-1 lead by the 21:34 mark of the first half. Otterbein stayed close and clawed back, tallying three of the game's next four goals before halftime to make the score 4-4. Four different Cardinals found the back of the net prior to intermission.

Neither team was able to score over the initial five minutes of the second period until the hosts seized control, rattling off four goals in just over three minutes to take an 8-4 advantage. Otterbein sliced the gap in half with 10:42 remaining thanks to goals from Alanna Schultz and Abby Smoot, but Capital answered with three-straight goals down the stretch to hang on.

Schultz recorded a team-best three points for Otterbein, which played the game without senior leader Annie Kelly as a result of injury. Kelly, the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, far and away leads the conference in both ground balls and caused turnovers.

The Crusaders finished with a 30-17 shot advantage but only a 17-14 margin on goal. Capital snagged 12 of 19 draw controls and corralled twice as many ground balls. Korri Titus led the hosts with six points while teammate Victoria Husain had another five.