Box Score
Photo Gallery

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein women's lacrosse team kicked off Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with a balanced home win Saturday afternoon, flying past Muskingum University by a score of 15-5 at a chilly Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals, improving their overall record to 3-6 on the spring, will be back in action Wednesday evening with a 7 p.m. matchup at Wilmington College.

Otterbein used a well-rounded offensive effort to open an 8-4 lead by halftime, getting goals from seven different players and out-shooting the Muskies 17-5 in the period. The Cards had only led 4-3 after a Muskingum man-up goal at the 19:57 mark, but quickly responded with a 3-0 run to find some breathing room by intermission.

"It's extremely helpful for us to spread the offense around when we can," head coach Stephani Schmidt said. "We obviously have some certain leaders offensively, but it's always nice to see certain people step in and compliment the attack."

Otterbein slowly pulled away as the final 30 minutes progressed, limiting the Muskies (4-8, 0-2 OAC) to just one shot throughout the entire second half with a strong and scrappy defensive effort. The Cards netted three scores in the first-five minutes of the period, including a man-up goal from freshman Abby Smoot, before eventually getting the cushion into double digits with 13:39 remaining.

Smoot, Annie Kelly and Alanna Schultz each recorded hat tricks for a balanced Cardinal attack, which posted a 34-6 shot advantage and won 16 of the 22 draw controls. All three of those players also tallied an assist on the day, with Kelly compiling yet another impressive all-around stat line that included nine ground balls, eight caused turnovers and five draw controls.

"Annie always provides a great spark for us," Schmidt said. "We had a nice first half today but wanted to be even better in the second. She came out and kind of turned things up a notch, and I saw the rest of our group rally around that energy a bit. She helps run things correctly and you can't really put a value on what she does for us."

The Cards successfully cleared the ball on 12 of 16 opportunities and held the Muskies to just a 13 of 28 output. Kaleigh Norvet scored twice to lead Muskingum, which received a solid 12-save performance from goalie Kate Shamel in the cage.

Schmidt and her team now look to carry the momentum  into the rest of the conference slate, hoping to learn from their up-and-down non-conference experience.

"We kind of turned the page to our second season, so to speak," Schmidt explained. "It's a new month with a new beginning, and we played a tough non-conference schedule that has hopefully prepared us for the home stretch. We would have obviously liked to produce a few better outcomes, but I think those struggles make us realize what it will take to push towards the OAC postseason."