Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team was defeated 12-5 by first-place John Carroll on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals conclude the regular season at 8-9 overall and finish 5-3 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play to claim the fourth and final spot in next week's conference tournament.

John Carroll conversely improves to 10-4 overall and remains perfect in league play at 8-0 to clinch the top-seed and host Otterbein next Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Stay tuned to
the Cards' schedule page for the latest on start time.

The Blue Streaks jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead following a trio of scores in the first five minutes of the game, notching their first two within 18 seconds of one another. Otterbein got its first goal from sophomore Joe Sanfillipo, who notched his 22nd of the season with 8:25 left in the period.

JCU regained its three-goal advantage less than two minutes later, before the Cardinals fired home two-straight goals to cut the deficit to 4-3. Freshman Chandler Swartz was first to score with his first of two goals on the day, followed by junior Anthony Spingola's 14th of the year with six seconds remaining.

The Blue Streaks came right back firing to begin the second quarter, scoring a pair of goals within 13 seconds of one another around the 11-minute mark, one of which was a man-up goal. Seven minutes passed before Sanfillipo assisted Swartz to make the score 6-4 in favor of JCU with four minutes left until halftime.

JCU tallied two additional goals over the final minutes of the frame to take an 8-4 advantage into the break, along with a 23-15 edge in shots with 17 of them coming on goal.

Freshman Mike Brendle opened the second half with the first score to bring the Cards back within three scores as he recorded the lone goal of the third period. JCU then piled on four goals in the fourth quarter, three of which came in man-up situations, limiting Otterbein to just three shots in the frame.

A total of 16 penalties were issued between the two teams as a high-spirited atmosphere was on display on Ballenger Field. All three Cardinal goalkeepers saw time in net, as starter James Gundling played the entire first half and saved nine shots, while Connor Hinson, who stopped four shots, and Matt Niemi logged the remaining 30 minutes.

The game was also the final home regular-season contest for Cardinal seniors Ryan Gombita, Matt Isele, Nick Tholt, Jake Taghon, James Gundling, Connor Hinson and assistant coach James Eastep.