PHOTO GALLERY
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A battle between the past two Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season champions took place Wednesday night, as John Carroll bested Otterbein 4-0 inside of Memorial Stadium.
The slick weather conditions would play a factor in the early stages of the match. Lawrence Cersosimo attempted to find a Blue Streak in the box, but the ball sailed over his teammate's head and bounced through the hands of goalkeeper
Collin Hoffmann.
John Carroll (7-4-1, 3-1 OAC) would capitalize on Otterbein's mistakes throughout the remainder of the period. Jarrod McDowell intercepted a pass from the Cardinal defense in the 24th minute, and beat one Cardinal defender before finishing in the lower-right corner past Hoffmann.
Four minutes later, McDowell made another nice play on Otterbein's side of the pitch. This time a Cardinal defender attempted to play the ball back to Hoffmann, but did not put enough power behind the header and McDowell stepped in and chipped the shot over the keeper's head.
Otterbein trailed 3-0 heading into the break as JCU held a marginal 8-4 edge in shots. Despite the scoreboard, Otterbein played the Blue Streaks tough in the first 45 minute as just those few mishaps were the difference.
Freshman goalkeeper
Andrew McIlvoy made his collegiate debut in the net for Otterbein to begin the second half. The 6-4 product from San Antonio, Texas native made one save during his time between the pipes.
Otterbein saw a few opportunities down the stretch, but nothing that truly put pressure on the Blue Streak defense. John Carroll added an insurance goal in the period as Eric Rozsits attempted a free kick, which deflected off an Otterbein defender and slipped past McIlvoy.
John Carroll finished with a 15-8 shot advantage in a matchup that saw 26 combined fouls. Liam McIntosh went the distance in goal for JCU to earn the victory. The Cardinals now fall to 5-5 overall, 2-2 in the OAC and will travel to Tiffin for a conference match against Heidelberg this Saturday at 2 p.m.
