ADA, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team came up short in a key road game Wednesday night, falling by a score of 13-8 at Ohio Northern during Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action.

The Cardinals, falling to 11-5 on the year, now sit tied with the Polar Bears for third place in the league standings. Both teams hold a 6-2 record, one game ahead of fifth-place John Carroll at the moment.

The top-four teams will qualify for the upcoming OAC Tournament and almost all seeding is still to be determined. Otterbein hosts second-place Baldwin Wallace on Saturday night while JCU and ONU will play one another.


HOW IT  HAPPENED:

• Both teams got off to fast starts offensively, as Otterbein held a 3-2 lead at the 7:27 mark after Judston Huston found Jake Grundey for a goal.
   
• Ohio Northern found a groove from there, scoring four-straight times to jump ahead before Huston stopped the run with 2:58 to go before halftime. ONU eventually carried a 6-4 advantage into the locker rooms.
   
• The Cards netted two goals to begin the third quarter and draw even at 6-6, as Robby Fields converted a man-up opportunity before Huston set up Grundey again.
   
• ONU found a difference-making stretch once more, embarking on a 5-1 run from the middle of the third period to the middle of the fourth and opening an 11-7 edge.
   
• Otterbein received a goal from senior Joe Sanfillipo down the stretch but ONU's Anthony Pavone put the game away with two of his own.
   

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Sanfillipo tallied two points on the evening, reaching exactly 200 for his standout career and becoming just the third player in program history to reach the milestone.
   
• Grundey tallied a hat trick and ended up with four total points to lead all scorers. Huston, Fields and Xander Seal all posted three each.
   
• Mike Roman won 17 of 24 faceoff (including all eight in the final quarter) to tie his second-most wins in a game this year, but Otterbein unfortunately committed 30 turnovers and ONU goalie Alex Pizarro made 10 key saves.
   
• Ohio Northern finished with a 40-28 shot advantage, as Otterbein cager Zachary Groene made seven stops of his own.
   
• ONU wins the matchup for a second-straight year, also defeating Otterbein 11-9 last year in Ada.

 
UP NEXT:

Otterbein will host another night game at Memorial Stadium, welcoming BW for a rare 8 p.m. start after conclusion of the two-day OAC Track and Field Championships. It will also be Senior Night.