Box Score

HIRAM, Ohio – The No. 22-ranked Otterbein women's soccer team retained its undefeated streak to begin the year with a 4-0 win at Hiram Wednesday night in its final tune-up before conference play.

The Cardinals, now 7-0-1 on the season, are off to their best start through eight games since their historic 2010 season when they went undefeated at 20-0-4 and advanced to the NCAA Division III national semifinals.

The victory over Hiram also concludes non-conference play during the regular season for Otterbein, as the Cards have navigated their early slate of matches by allowing no more than one goal to their opponents while also posting four shutouts.

Otterbein hosts cross-town rival Capital on Saturday afternoon in its first Ohio Athletic Conference matchup of the season inside Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

The Cardinals controlled the shot margin easily from kickoff as they notched five shots in a little over eight minutes into the game, before reaching the double-digit mark in the first 16 minutes of action.

Senior Alyssa Spencer finally broke the scoreless tie in the 22nd minute, netting her first goal of the year off an assist from freshman Bella Shivley, who finished the night with a game-best four points on a goal and two assists.

Otterbein unloaded eight more shots before sophomore Katie Exline found the back of the net to beat the clock with 16 seconds left until halftime, firing in her third score of the year with the assist again going to Shivley.

The Cards entered the break with an astounding 19-0 advantage in the shot category, tallying 11 of them on goal while also holding a 7-0 lead in corner kicks.

Shivley increased her point total and the Cardinal lead over the Terriers in the 57th minute, putting the team up 3-0 after converting a penalty kick following a foul in the Hiram box.

The scored then increased to a 4-0 margin in favor of the Cards in the 79th minute as freshman Isabel Sentle found the back of the net for her second goal of the season to help Otterbein finish with a stellar 29-2 advantage in shots, 17 of them coming on goal.

Cardinal goalkeeper Erin Gordon improved to 3-0 after going the distance in goal, while Terrier goalkeeper Ally Green tallied an admirable 13 saves in the loss.