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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The top-seeded Otterbein men's soccer squad edged Capital 1-0 to capture its first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament championship since 2002 and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA D3 Tournament on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd inside Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals, now 17-2 overall and ranked 19th nationally, also become the first team in the league since the 2012 Ohio Northern squad to go undefeated in both the OAC regular-season and tournament to clinch both titles.

"I'm really proud of this team," said head coach Jason Griffiths, who joins Capital's Josh Racette (2009) as the only OAC men's soccer coaches to win a tournament championship in their inaugural season. "As coaches we put a game plan out there and it's the guys' job to execute it, and they've done everything we've asked of them this year. This win is for them because they've worked so hard to get here."

Otterbein, riding a 15-game winning streak, now awaits its destination in next week's NCAA Tournament, with the selection show on tap for Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. A link to watch the show will be posted on the team's schedule page and on all of Otterbein Athletics' social media outlets as soon as it becomes available.

The game featured a tight-knit battle between the cross-town rivals, a similar matchup to the regular season which also resulted in a 1-0 victory in favor of the Cards in Bexley on Sept. 30.

Neither team managed to notch a goal through the first half of action as a combined 14 shots were taken, while Cardinal goalkeeper Collin Hoffmann posted a trio of saves on multiple chances by the Crusaders.

The second half grew even more intense in front of a crowd of nearly 1,400 fans, before the Cardinal fans erupted less than three minutes into the frame on a goal by sophomore Eric Stucky following a cross from junior Erick Jaurez-Manning.

"We got a quick throw-in and Erick (Juarez-Manning) helped cut the ball down the line," Stucky said excitedly. "I was working my way into the box for the cross and the goalie kind of muffed it and I was there to clean it up."

The goal was Stucky's second of the season, and the most impactful of his career thus far, one he will never forget.

"I'm kind of speechless," Stucky remarked. "You always dream about scoring game-winning goals like that, so to get in position and put that ball in is unimaginable."

Otterbein quickly regrouped at midfield after celebrating the score, knowing there was a long way to go in the match. Capital did not fold either as it responded with four shots over the next 17 minutes, two of which sailed wide right of the goal.

The Crusaders continued to press down the stretch of the final 25 minutes of play, but the conference's top-ranked Cardinal defense stifled every chance its opponent got close to goal. Capital earned multiple throw-ins deep down the line in the final 10 minutes, but to no avail as the Cards stopped five shots over that span.

One of many game-saving stops by the Cards came on a team save with 2:30 remaining as Capital's Daniel Bundschuh ripped a shot toward the goal line that was corralled by a host of Otterbein defenders.

Hoffmann picked up his 10th shutout of the year in goal along with three saves, all of which came in the first 15 minutes, facing a Capital attack which ended up leading the game in shots, 17-12. A total of 10 fouls were called along with four yellow cards issued.

Four Cardinal players were also named to the all-tournament team including: Collin Hoffmann, Jaden Lunger, Tiger Pham, and Nate Norris.