Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Otterbein University men's lacrosse team notched its first win of the season Tuesday night in come-from-behind fashion, overcoming a halftime deficit and ultimately play to a 14-8 victory at Birmingham-Southern College.

The Cardinals (1-2) quickly fell behind 3-0 early in the first quarter before bouncing back to tie the game, 3-3, following goals from Ryan Gombita, Connor Dziewit and Tommy Kolibash.

The Panthers responded from that point, hitting a nice stride and eventually adding two goals in the final minute of the opening half to take a 7-4 lead by intermission.

Otterbein stormed out to dominate the third quarter, outscoring BSC 5-0 in the period to jump ahead and never look back. Birmingham Southern found the back of the net a few minutes into the fourth to make its deficit 9-8, but the Cards countered with five-straight goals down the stretch to put the contest away.

Dziewit led the way with an eight-point performance, scoring a game-high six times and also adding a pair of assists. Gombita and junior Anthony Spingola both recorded hat tricks while freshman Mike Brendle also scored. Otterbein went 3 of 5 on extra-man opportunities and limited the opposition to just 1 of 4 on the opposite end.

Both teams attempted 32 shots in the game, which saw Birmingham Southern capture 14 of the 25 faceoffs and get two goals apiece from both Carson Butler and David Arnold. McHale Schneider dished out a game-high three helpers.

Cardinal goalies James Gundling and Connor Hinson essentially split time in goal, with Hinson coming on shortly before halftime and then teaming with the defense to allow just one goal following the break. Hinson stopped six shots while Kolibash snagged four groundballs with his long stick.

Otterbein will finish out the week at Berry College (Ga.) on Friday, squaring off against the Vikings at 4 p.m.