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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team got back on the field following a 10-day layoff Tuesday night, cruising past visiting Wilmington College by a score of 23-8 inside Memorial Stadium.
The Cardinals improve to 7-6 on the season and 4-1 within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play as a squad, but the night belonged to senior
Connor Dziewit as the Michigan native became the program's all-time leading scorer. He surpasses former standout Mikey O'Neal, who recorded 206 points during his career from 2011-14.
"It's all about the team instead of where the points are going," Dziewit said afterwards. "This is definitely a big accomplishment and I'm very proud to reach this point, but it doesn't mean anything without success as a group and playing alongside some awesome guys."
Dziewit came out with a bang, tying the Cardinal single-game scoring record by intermission after a four-goal, four-assist explosion in the opening half.
Jason McDonald won 7 of 8 faceoffs in the first quarter to help build a 6-1 lead and then blew things open with 10 goals in the second period.
The Cards led 16-2 at the break before Dziewit grabbed the single-game scoring mark to himself with an assist in the third. He exited shortly afterwards to rest for the remainder of the evening.
"It feels like yesterday that I was a freshman and goofing off around upperclassmen like Robbie Guiliano and Marcus Willis, and then I remember how much of a workmanlike approach they had at times and really guided the team. I sense myself starting to appreciate things more and feel what it was like to be in their shoes. It's about the experience of working together."
The Cardinals worked in nearly their entire roster throughout the second half, ultimately getting goals from 10 different players as the two sides traded scores down the stretch. Wilmington (4-8, 1-5 OAC) never quit and actually roped in three-straight goals early in the fourth to keep Otterbein's attention.
Jake Grundey netted a career-high four goals to join Dziewit while
Xander Seal,
Chandler Swartz,
Justin McKee,
Mike Roman,
Robby Fields,
Ben Lewis and
Jared Wise all enjoyed multi-goal evenings as well.
"We are getting scoring across the field and everyone is on the same page," Dziewit added. "There can be some learning adjustments at the beginning but I can see this forming. We are all chasing after the same thing."
The Cards finished with a 51-25 shot advantage in a game that saw 18 combined penalties (nine on each team). Otterbein's man-down defense limited the Quakers to just a 1 for 8 output.
Wilmington received hat tricks from Jhordan Long and Andrew Miller, along with 14 saves from goalie Jake Levendorf.
