Tournament Page
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's soccer team has been selected to serve as host site of a four-team NCAA Division III Regional this weekend in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002.
The Cardinals, ranked 10th nationally and first in the latest regional poll, earned a bid to the 62-team NCAA Tournament after capturing the program's first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament title since 2002 last Saturday following a 1-0 win over rival Capital.
Otterbein will open first-round play against Medaille (N.Y.) on Saturday at 5 p.m., before Kenyon and Transylvania square off at 7:30 p.m. The winner of both matches will advance to Sunday's second round kicking off at 7 p.m.
"This is such an honor for our guys to host and play in the NCAA Tournament," said head coach
Jason Griffiths, who became just the second head coach in league history to win the OAC Tournament in his inaugural season. "Our team has played really well as a unit this season and they understand their roles, which is a major reason they've had so much success."
Otterbein, which enters the national tourney on a 15-game winning streak, also captured its first conference regular-season championship after finishing undefeated at 9-0 in league play. That record is due in-part to the Cards protecting home turf, now a perfect 11-0 inside Memorial Stadium.
The Cardinals are the top-ranked defense in the conference and for a good reason as senior
Jaden Lunger has captained a defensive front, along with sophomore goalkeeper Collin Hoffmann, which has a 0.68 goals-against average while allowing just 13 goals on the year.
Sophomore Kennedy Mensah currently leads the Cards offensively with 21 points on 10 goals and one assist, as a total of seven players have 10 or more points this fall. Otterbein also leads the OAC in scoring with 50 goals so far this season.
Medaille enters the tournament after defeating top-seeded Penn St.-Behrend to win the Allegheny Mount Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament championship last weekend.
The Mavericks finished the regular season with a 12-5 overall record and 7-2 mark in league play, including losses to conference foes PSU-Behrend and Mount Aloysius.
Medaille had three common opponents with Otterbein this fall, including La Roche, Hiram and John Carroll, as the Mavs posted a 2-1 record in that trio with wins over the first-two listed.
The Mavericks earned seven all-conference award winners and currently have six different players with 10 or more points, led by Mitchell Ali who paces the team with 28 points on 11 goals and six assists. Medaille is 8-2-1 away from home field this season and 1-0 in neutral matches.
