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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's lacrosse team suffered a disappointing loss Wednesday night at Memorial Stadium, watching visiting Kenyon College score with 1:03 remaining to escape with a wild 12-11 victory.

Kenyon (3-3) got on the board first with a goal just 49 seconds into the game, but Otterbein (2-5) responded with a five-goal run that spanned to the 13:41 mark of the second quarter. Included in the sequence were two goals from both Mike Brendle and Jake Grundey, along with another off the stick off Justin McKee.

The Lords settled in and responded, scoring three-straight times throughout the middle of the second period to close within one score, at 5-4, with 3:43 left before halftime. Each side found the back of the net in the closing minutes as the Cards went into intermission holding a slim 6-5 margin. Otterbein won 9 of 13 faceoffs over the opening half.

The third quarter entered into a back-and-forth showdown, with the period seeing three separate ties and a pair of man-up goals from both offenses.

The matchup went into the fourth quarter locked at 9-9 before Otterbein sophomore Derek Petrucci netted his first-career goal less than a minute into the period. Petrucci tallied his first-ever college point with an assist in last year's matchup against Kenyon.

The Lords stayed put and didn't waver, fighting back to tie the matchup at 10-10 and 11-11 as the clock hit the final minutes of action. Kenyon leading-goal scorer Emilio Sosa was ultimately credited with the difference-maker, rapidly deflecting in a rope from teammate Jonah Florence into the net with 63 seconds remaining.

Otterbein would then come up empty on its final possession as a shot from leading-scorer Connor Dziewit was saved by Kenyon cager Gabriel Avis, who finished the night with a solid 14 stops. Both sides rattled off an identical 41 shots each and nearly split the faceoffs with the Cards holding a 15-12 advantage. Both teams also converted three man-up opportunities.

Grundey and Brendle both tallied hat tricks to pace Otterbein while sophomore Joe Sanfillipo had a team-high five points, going for one goal and a game-best four helpers. Sosa and Robert Jacobs both put in four goals to spearhead the opposition. Junior defenseman Mike Davison led all players with three caused turnovers for the Cards while goalies James Gundling and Connor Hinson combined for 10 saves.

Otterbein will stay at home to finish out the week, beginning Ohio Athletic Conference play against Heidelberg University at 1 p.m.