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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein women's lacrosse team opened its schedule at a sunny but chilly Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon, finding a groove late but ultimately taking a 15-7 loss to visiting Centre College.

The Colonels, coming off a 14-3 season and trip to the NCAA Tournament, pick up their first win of the year after dropping a recent opener to Roanoke. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will look to get in the win column with upcoming games at Wittenberg and Transylvania before spring break.

It was all Centre early as the visitors built a 4-0 lead and then later carried a 6-1 advantage into halftime. Scoring picked up after intermission, with seven goals in the opening 10 minutes, as the Colonels built a 12-2 lead in the span.

Otterbein never stopped playing, outscoring Centre 5-3 from that point in the contest and stringing together four-straight goals down the stretch. Julia Karas connected with Abby Smoot three different times in the span as both finished with a team-high four points.

Sophomore Cameron Finnegan and freshman Lexie Van Cleef also found the back of the net for Otterbein, while Karas also tied for a game-best four draw controls. Mary Katherine Hardy led all players with five goals on the Centre side and McKenna Hulette added a hat trick.

Both sides finished the game incredibly even in multiple categories, including shots (25-25), turnovers (24-24), draw controls (12-12) and caused turnovers (7-7). Centre made up the difference by taking advantage of free-position opportunities, cashing in on 7 of 11 while the Cards went just 1 of 4.

Lola Duff made 10 saves for the Colonels while Allison Rhoads had six in the home cage.