Box Score

NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse squad got itself back into the win column Wednesday night, pulling away en route to posting a 19-4 conference win at Muskingum University.

The Cardinals, moving to 4-7 on the season and 2-1 against the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), received goals from 13 different players and ultimately out-shot the hosts Muskies by a count of 60-26.

Otterbein captured 22 of 27 faceoffs behind freshman Jason McDonald, who went 17 of 19 before sharing the X with Mike Roman and Janis Grigans. McDonald ended the evening with a game-best 10 ground balls while classmate Justin McKee picked up six.

Muskingum (4-5, 1-02 OAC) actually held an early 2-1 lead following consecutive goals from leading-scorer Tucker Haas, but Otterbein settled in to embark on a 10- run that spanned all the way until the 4:34 mark of the third quarter.

Andrew Ward scored for Muskingum to halt the spurt before Otterbein countered with six more goals to put the game away by the midway point of the fourth quarter.

Junior Connor Dziewit scored a game-high five times and now leads the conference with 36 on the season. Freshmen Mike Brendle and Chandler Swartz both scored twice while classmate Charlie LaShell enjoyed a three-point night with a goal and two assists. Dziewit and Swartz also corralled five ground balls each.

Goalie Connor Hinson went the first 45 minutes in the cage before giving way to Matt Niemi and Connor Mackenzie, who finished the job. The Otterbein defense forced Muskingum into 19 turnovers and helped the transition game go a perfect 19 for 19 on clears.