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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The No. 25-ranked Otterbein University men's soccer team secured at least a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season championship Friday night, coming from behind to earn a 4-1 victory over Baldwin Wallace at a prideful Memorial Stadium.

With the triumph, the Cardinals clinch the top seed and home-field advantage in the upcoming OAC Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker with John Carroll. Otterbein can secure the regular-season outright with just one more point over its final two matches, or if JCU does anything but win its last three outings.

30-year old Jason Griffiths becomes just the fourth men's soccer coach in OAC history to win a regular-season championship in his first season at the helm, joining John Deely (Mount Union/1984), Ali Kazemaini (John Carroll/1992) and Greg Kenney (Hiram/1994).

"We didn't necessarily have this outlined as a primary goal in year one, but I've seen the guys improve every game and buy into what my staff has tried to do," Griffiths said. "It's not a huge surprise to me now because I witness the character this team has behind the scenes. They are realizing their full potential…

"But we don't want to share a championship," Griffiths added emphatically. "We turn to the next game and will try to grab three more points at Marietta. That's the focus."

Baldwin Wallace (5-10-2, 1-5-1 OAC) caught the Cardinals early, taking a lead when Danny Ruple converted his league-leading 18th goal of the year off a double-assist in the 12th minute.

Otterbein wasted little time responding, with senior Noah Coons cleaning up a loose ball in the box for his third goal of the year after a BW defender tried to clear it out. The effort came following a well-placed corner kick from Pau Piang in the 17th minute.

"We didn't put our heads down when they scored first and instead just focused on the job at hand," Coons said. "A lot of us had said in previous years that we could win an OAC championship, but I'm not sure I really believed it until about six weeks ago. There has been something different about this team and our desire to play for one another. It's been special."

The matchup went into the break locked at 1-1, but sophomore forward Kennedy Mensah helped lift the Cards to victory with a pair of goals in the second half. The go-ahead sequence occurred less than 90 seconds into the period when Tiger Pham sent a quick touch pass to Erick Juarez-Manning, who crossed the ball in and found Mensah's foot.

Mensah widened the lead at the 52:26 mark, taking advantage of a misplayed ball by a Yellow Jacket defender before junior Toby Varland lofted a lead pass which Mensah used to slip the ball past the goalie inside the right post for his team-best 10th goal on the season. Senior Nate Norris solidified things in the 79th minute, heading in a corner kick from Varland.

Otterbein finished with a 24-11 shot advantage, taking six corner kicks compared to just one for the visitors. Goalkeeper Collin Hoffman made two stops before giving way in the closing minutes to senior Mack Stamper.

Prior to the match, the program honored Coons, Norris, Stamper and fellow seniors Jaden Lunger, Blake Steenrod, Nick Snabes, Jonny Henesy, Gavin Koerner and Kyle Kmech for their contributions to the program.

"It's emotional for me because I worked with former coach Gerry D'Arcy to help recruit some of these seniors when I was helping out a bit," Griffiths explained. "They have been through highs and lows, so to see this accomplished in their final season is amazing for not only them, but their families as well."

Otterbein will finish out its regular-season with a pair of road matches next week, traveling to take on Marietta and Mount Union.