WOOSTER, Ohio – A well-balanced Otterbein men's lacrosse team continued more of the same Friday evening, walking away from host College of Wooster with a decisive 14-8 victory in non-conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Wooster scored early on before Otterbein took control for good, rattling off six-straight goals to end the first quarter and never look back.
- Both sides traded scores throughout the second quarter, with the Cards taking an 8-4 lead into the break behind five points from Xander Seal and a hat trick courtesy of Robby Fields.
- Otterbein (2-1) kept the host school at arm's length during the second half, as both teams hit the back of the net twice in the third. The Cardinals then ripped off four more goals in the final frame as Seal matched some program history.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Seal tied Otterbein program records for most points (9) and assists (6) in a single game to easily led all scorers. The sophomore, who had a nice 36-point campaign last year, now has 12 so far this season.
- Fields and Drew McDonald both tallied four goals while wile Joe Sanfillipo (1G, 3A) and Jake Grundey (2G, 1A) were also heavily involved as usual.
- Sophomore Goalie Zach Groene made a career-high 12 saves in the cage behind a Cardinal defense that caused 13 turnovers. Jordan Tobler led the way with three himself.
- Otterbein exacts some nice revenge over Wooster after falling the past two seasons. Head Coach Colin Hartnett was back at his alma mater, where he was a 2x All-NCAC selection and the league's Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.
- The Cardinals won just 9 of 26 faceoffs on the evening, but remained in control behind its productive defensive effort.
- Cullen Kuhn and Shaun Pierce both contributed three-point efforts for Wooster, which fell to 0-2 on the season.
UP NEXT:
The Cardinals will head south for their annual spring break trip, this time visiting Clearwater, Florida after traveling to Colorado last season. Otterbein will play games against Emmanuel (3/7) and Eastern (3/9) with both games scheduled to begin at noon.
