Box Score

NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Otterbein women's lacrosse team bounced back from a weekend loss in nice fashion Wednesday night, pulling away to secure an 18-4 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory at Muskingum University.

The Cardinals, 6-6 on the year and now 2-1 within league play, will return home to Memorial Stadium and next play Mount Union come Saturday afternoon. Start time for that contest is currently set for 1 p.m.

Otterbein jumped ahead early over the Muskies (2-8, 0-3 OAC) and never relinquished the advantage, scoring twice in the opening minutes on goals from Noa Crowley and Cameron Finnegan.

Muskingum notched one score temporarily before the Cards settled back in, opening a 5-1 lead by the midway point of the first half and eventually carrying a seven-goal lead into the locker room for intermission. Junior Abby Smoot and freshman Cameron Finnegan both delivered hat tricks in the opening 30 minutes.

The Cardinals stayed out in front throughout the second half, with Finnegan notching two more early goals and classmate Kiera Mulcahy also getting in on the multi-score action. Otterbein would cruise down the stretch in getting back to .500 this spring.

Smoot and Finnegan each scored a season-best six times, with Otterbein more than doubling up the hosts in shots at 39-18. The Cards were victorious on 19 of 23 draw controls and saw a solid effort from defender Cristiana Nicholas, who caused three turnovers and picked up five ground balls.

Goalies Allison Rhoads and Tasha Williams split halves in the cage, combining to stop five Muskingum shots.