UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – A return to Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play wasn't so kind to the Cardinal women's lacrosse team Saturday afternoon on the road, falling by a score of 22-6 at host John Carroll inside Don Shula Stadium.

John Carroll (7-2, 2-0 OAC) remains sharp to begin league play after going 14-3 last season, dropping a narrow 12-11 game against Capital in the OAC Tournament. The Blue Streaks have won double-digit games every year since introducing the sport.

Otterbein (3-8, 0-2 OAC) will head back home after a challenging start to league play, which has seen contests against 5x defending champion Mount Union as then the formidable JCU squad. The Cardinals have the middle of next week off before hosting Heidelberg Saturday afternoon.

JCU scored early and often to create a comfortable margin, opening the day on a 9-0 run before Cameron Finnegan got Otterbein on the board at the 20:16 mark. John Carroll eventually took a 16-2 lead into halftime.

The Blue Streaks scored six-straight times to begin the second half but Otterbein never stopped competing, netting three goals down the stretch to help culminate the scoring.

Finnegan scored twice on the afternoon while Kiera Mulcahy led the team with three points, scoring once and setting up two other goals. Kenna Walquist, Julie Platz and Lexie Van Cleef also found the scoring column.

John Carroll, receiving multi-goal outings from seven different players, outshot the Cards 38-10 and also snagged 23 of 30 draw controls.

Otterbein did go a perfect 4 of 4 on free-position attempts and goalie Allison Rhoads had nine saves on the opposite end.