Box Score ADA, Ohio – It took roughly 350 days, but the Otterbein men's lacrosse team was finally able to resume varsity competition Sunday afternoon in its season debut at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

The Cardinals and Polar Bears, opening the schedule with one of four games declared as "non-conference," played a tightly-contested affair to begin working out the kinks of a lengthy offseason. By the final horn, it was Ohio Northern prevailing by a narrow 8-7 score.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:
Both sides traded goals throughout a back-and-forth, windy first half. Freshman Aidan Moore scored twice before halftime in his college debut, but Ohio Northern struck with eight seconds left in the second quarter to take a multi-goal advantage (6-4) into the break.

Ohio Northern moved its lead to 8-4 midway through the third quarter, but Otterbein didn't go anywhere. The Cards got two-straight goals from Xander Seal (off assists from Cole Werbrich and Quinn Nocodemus) to culminate the third quarter and remain right in the mix.

Werbrich scored with 10:04 left for what ended up being the only goal of the final period. Otterbein saw multiple chances for an equalizer, the first being a man-up possession around the 4:00 mark that resulted in a turnover. Cardinal goalie Zach Groene then made two important saves, one at 2:29 and the other with 30 seconds remaining, to give his team a final opportunity…

Seal scooted up the right sideline in transition and behind the net, but his pass into the middle of the zone was not corralled and the clock expired.

NOTABLE STATS:
* Ohio Northern finished with a 46-24 shot advantage, but Groene made an impressive 19 saves to keep his team within striking distance.

* Both sides combined to go 0 for 8 on extra-man opportunities.

* Seal had a game-high five points for the Cardinals, while Moore tallied three in his first outing.

* Davis Tanaka went 8 of 14 on faceoffs during his first game in an Otterbein uniform.

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Cardinals will have the middle of the week off to keep getting loose, before getting back into action come Saturday at Wilmington.