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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – In one of the wildest games in recent program history, the Cardinal women's lacrosse team endured a tough (yet very encouraging) loss to cross-town rival Capital in the final minute Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The Crusaders, making their season debut, received a game-winning goal from standout Kat Walton during a broken sequence with just 17 seconds remaining. Otterbein, now 2-1 overall, won the ensuing draw after a lengthy delay for a rule clarification but was unable to move it up field.

HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN:

• Capital seemed relatively sharp early despite playing for the first time this spring, opening a 4-2 lead by the 22:13 mark.
   
• Otterbein quickly found its groove, using a 5-1 run over the remainder of the first half to grab a 7-5 lead by intermission. Culminating the period was a critical man-up conversion by freshman Carli Rigel with 28 seconds left.
   
• The second half began with a stretch of momentum swings. Capital scored a pair of man-up goals to tie the game, Otterbein responded with two of its own, and the Crusaders answered again with three in a row to take a 10-9 lead.
   
• Deadlocks occurred at 10-10, 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13 as both teams entered a chess match down the stretch.
   
• Walton netted the final two for Capital; an equalizer at 3:16 and the man-up winner in the closing possession after Otterbein was dealt a yellow card.

KEY STATS:

• Otterbein dominated the draw control, winning 22 of 28 to keep giving itself offensive chances. Macey Buchanan corralled 10 of those while Rigel hauled in another six.
   
• Goalie Leah McNutt was sensational for the Cards, making an Otterbein single-game record 19 saves which included three timely stops in one lightning sequence. Counterpart Bee Keuhn was also impressive with 13 in the visitor net.
   
• The Cardinals were looking to snap a four-game losing skid against Capital, dropping the previous three by double digits.
   
• Both teams took exactly 38 shots on the day and had multi-goal outings from five different players. Walton led all scores with four.

 
NEXT IN LINE:

Otterbein will hit the road for its first away game of the season, traveling to John Carroll next weekend.