WESTERVILLE, Ohio- The No. 6-ranked Cardinals had to fight back to earn a win Saturday night, falling behind 3-1 to Muskingum early in the second half before scoring five unanswered goals.
Before the match, the program honored eight seniors who have been impactful in helping guide the Cardinals to their current position.
Still without a loss, the Cardinals fell behind early in the match when Mahfuz Yakubu capitalized on an Otterbein turnover. Yakubu found himself alone behind the defense and beat
Andrew McIlvoy one-on-one for the first score of the night.
Otterbein answered the Muskie score just twelve minutes later when
Drew Holman corralled a bouncing ball sent in off a corner kick by
Will Isaac. After a failed clear attempt by the Muskingum goalie, Holman was able to head the ball home into the left side of the net to bring the score even at one apiece.
The tie was short-lived, though, as Muskingum would answer just 1:25 later when Blake Weatherholt scored from the left side off a cross pass from Edwin Palou sent in from the 20-yard line.
The Cardinals outshot Muskingum 15-3 in the first half but hit the locker room trailing 2-1.
A rejuvenated Cardinal squad hit the field in the second half, but Muskingum would hit the scoreboard first again. A miss-played ball by the back-line led to Yakubu scoring his second of the night, again beating McIlvoy one-on-one.
That would be all the scoring on the night for the Muskies, though, as the Cardinals showed why they've climbed to the sixth spot in the national rankings.
Just five minutes after the Muskies made it a 3-1 game,
Gabe Sharrock scored a header thanks to a beautiful high-arching pass sent in by
Will Isaac on a free-kick. Just over a minute later,
Coby Stover was able to control a rebound that the Muskies failed to clear, heading it home for the game-tying score.
With the score deadlocked at three for just two minutes, Stover scored his second of the night. This time a beautiful passing sequence between
Mark Wischmeyer and Sharrock led to Stover standing alone for the score.
Eight minutes later, just moments after checking in,
Paul Hensley put the Cardinals ahead 5-3, another unassisted goal scored on a failed Muskingum clear attempt.
Kyle Haberkorn fittingly put the final touches on things, as the senior netted his first score of the year to give the Cards a 6-3 advantage.
The match featured 21 fouls and seven cards, including two yellows that led to Muskingum playing the final moments with ten players.
Otterbein will get back in action on Wednesday night when they welcome Ohio Northern to town for a 7 p.m. start inside Memorial Stadium.
