PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A long-awaited Otterbein men's lacrosse season opener gave those involved plenty of entertainment Wednesday afternoon, as the Cardinals found a way to regroup late and emerge with a thrilling 9-8 overtime victory against Wittenberg.

Otterbein, playing host inside a chilly yet sunny Memorial Stadium, relinquished a four-goal lead in the second half before eventually receiving a walk-off score from junior Ben Lewis in the extra session. Wittenberg has now played a pair of 9-8 contests to begin its campaign, recently defeating Centre College by a similar script after a game-winning goal with 54 seconds left in its opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• It was all Otterbein early, opening a 4-0 lead early in the second quarter after a stretch that saw three points from Xander Seal and eight saves from goalie Zach Groene.
   
• The Tigers settled in and got a pair back off the stick of standout Noah Moderwell, ultimately keeping the margin at 5-2 entering intermission.
   
• Seal and Moderwell continued exchanging ropes in the third, both scoring twice in a period that saw the Cards build a 7-3 lead at one point.
   
• Wittenberg got hot behind faceoff specialist Quinn McConkey, holding Otterbein to just one goal over the final 22 minutes of regulation and mounting a rally. The Tigers, who never led in the game, found consecutive goals from Noah Mackin in the closing minutes to force overtime.
   
• The visitors saw a pair of prime chances to begin the extra session, but two critical stops from Groene kept the game deadlocked. Lewis ended the night with 92 seconds left in OT after taking a crisp pass from Mike Brendle and bouncing a shot home.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Seal spearheaded his club with a game-high five goals, coming on just nine shots, and tied for a team-best four ground balls. He added an assists for six total points.
   
• Groene finished with a new career-high 22 saves in the cage, seven more than his previous best of 15 coming last season. He had 11 stops in both halves.
   
• Wittenberg held dominant advantages in total shots, 47-26, and also winning 17 of 21 faceoffs.
   
• Otterbein has now defeated Wittenberg five of the past six years, including three-straight victories in the series.

 
UP NEXT:

Otterbein remains at home to finish the week, hosting Albion College at 2 p.m. The Cards will be looking for a second-straight win against the Britons after a 13-7 triumph last year at Detroit Country Day in Michigan.