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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A highly-anticipated clash atop the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) standings in men's soccer lived up to the billing Wednesday night at Memorial Stadium, as nationally-ranked Otterbein and 3x defending league champ John Carroll played to an entertaining scoreless draw.

Both sides saw notable and dynamic opportunities throughout but were unable to hit the scoreboard on either end. The No. 14-ranked Cardinals remain unbeaten overall at 9-0-3 this season, and now rest 3-0-1 within the conference.

John Carroll moves to 6-3-3 on the year and the identical mark against the league. Seven of the past nine matchups in this series have been decided by one goal or less.

Goalkeepers Connor Robinson (JCU) and Andrew McIlvoy (Otterbein) were solid throughout… keeping the opposition off the scoreboard leading into halftime. The Cards saw a few looks just before the break that could have provided momentum, but to no avail.

John Carroll controlled a higher percentage of possession, and shot attempt, in the second half despite both sides seeing dangerous moments. Otterbein had a prime chance in the 71st minute when recent sub Kyle Haberkorn broke loose on the far post and nearly finished an incoming pass right in front of the goal. However, Robinson made a bang-bang save to keep his team even.

The Blue Streaks pressed forward with a variety of free/corner kicks, but McIlvoy came out of the net to smoothly collect some loose balls on multiple occasions. John Carroll's best chance came very late in the 109th minute on a pass to the far post. Izac Coleman shot bottom left and McIlvoy stepped in as the ball inched ever-so-close to the goal line, and the play moved on with no stoppage.

John Carroll finished with a 26-12 advantage in total shots, but just a 5-4 edge on goal. The Blue Streaks also had a 9-2 margin in corner kicks in a match that started slow but ended up with a combined 27 fouls, getting chippy late.

McIlvoy (5) and Robinson (4) combined for nine official stops, although both made several other punch-outs or scoops that won't show up in the box score.

Otterbein finishes out the week on the road, traveling to Tiffin for a noon matchup with Heidelberg. The contest has been moved up one hour and will now take place on the stadium turf.