SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team found itself in another tight contest Saturday afternoon on the road, this time emerging by a score of 12-10 in a back-and-forth showdown at Wittenberg University. The Cardinals now stand 5-2 on the season as a result of the triumph.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Both sides traded goals throughout the opening frame, seeing ties at 2-2 and 3-3 before a handful of Cardinal miscues allowed the Tigers to find a little separation.
   
• Wittenberg opened a multi-goal advantage, but Otterbein closed the half with three-straight scores to draw even by halftime. Logan Fenech and Joe Sanfillipo both scored in the closing minute.
   
• A tightly-contested game saw more goals traded throughout the second half with ties at 7, 8 and 10 entering crunch time.
   
• Sanfillipo delivered the go-ahead score with 3:27 on a rope from the left side of the formation, and the Cards then won the ensuing faceoff. They eventually called timeout with 38 seconds left and set up the exclamation mark, as Xander Seal solidified the victory with 16 seconds showing in the clock. Senior Jake Grundey assisted both goals.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Sanfillipo (4G, 3A) led all scorers and went over a notable milestone, becoming just the second player in program history to amass 100 career assists.
   
• Five player had multi-point days, including sophomore Logan Fenech notching his first college hat trick.
   
• Adam Grumman, who recently became the program's all-time leader in caused turnovers, forced another three while middie Justin McKee had a game-high eight GB's.
   
• Mike Roman, back after missing the last two games with an injury, won 16 of 28 faceoffs.
   

WHAT THEY SAID:

"I hoped we learned some things today that will help us going into conference play. We got behind early with some bad turnovers and had to dig ourselves out. I think we made the big plays at key times and found a way to win." – Colin Hartnett

"We didn't play well, but good teams find ways to win when things maybe aren't going right. We have to work a little harder, keep getting better and use this last non-conference game to dial everything in before the OAC schedule." – Joe Sanfillipo
 
UP NEXT:

Otterbein will have its final non-conference outing of the year, hosting Kenyon come Wednesday night at Memorial Stadium. The Cards will then open league play next weekend at Mount Union.