Box Score

TIFFIN, Ohio – The Otterbein men's soccer team tied an over decade-old win streak with a 3-0 shutout at No. 8-ranked Heidelberg on Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup at Hidden Valley Stadium.

Otterbein (11-2 overall) extends its undefeated record in conference play to 5-0 after posting its fourth shutout in the last five games and seventh on the year. 

The last time the program won five games in OAC play was 2004, while this year's team has already met that mark with four matches remaining in the regular season.

"Very proud of our guys today," said first-year head coach Jason Griffiths. "Heidelberg is not an easy place to play and our guys worked really hard against a very good, organized team."

The story of the game was the scoring-spree in the first half from senior Nate Norris, who poured in a trio of goals in a span of six minutes to lift the Cardinals to victory.

Norris, who had yet to score this season coming into the match, gave the Cards a 1-0 advantage in the 28th minute on a shot from 12 yards out that found the back of net on a ball assisted by junior Erick Juarez-Manning.

Less than five minutes passed before Norris upped the Otterbein lead to 2-0, firing a shot from the 18-yard line into an open net after Heidelberg was scrambling defensively to cover the goal.

Just over two minutes ticked off the clock before Norris secured a first-half hat trick to inflate the Cards' lead to 3-0 with 11 minutes left until halftime, heading in a well-placed corner kick from sophomore Pau Piang.

"Nate was huge for us," Griffiths exclaimed. "Not just the goals he scored but the energy and leadership he brought to the game. Such a great performance by him and the team overall today."

Otterbein unloaded two additional shots before the break, heading into the locker rooms with a slim 8-6 advantage in shots while the corner-kick battle was knotted at three apiece.

The Cardinals protected their three-goal lead the entire second half, limiting the Berg to just five shots while striking six of their own.

Playing a key role in Otterbein maintaining the lead was the backline of the defense, captained by senior Jaden Lunger along with stellar goalkeeping from sophomore Collin Hoffman who stopped four shots for his 11th win in goal.