PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Following a 28-goal outburst Wednesday night against Wilmington the Cardinal offense never broke stride in an impressive 13-3 win over Capital.

Otterbein, now on a three-game win streak, finds itself at 7-2 overall and
5-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action with the win. Meanwhile, Capital falls for just the second time this season and now sits with a 5-2 record overall and 2-2 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Otterbein jumped out to a quick three goal lead in the first quarter with three different Cardinals finding the back of the net. Kendrick Rodgers broke the seal at the 7:23 mark with a high-to-high heater that stuck in the top left corner of the goal.

Just 21 seconds later the shifty Nick Asuan cut to the middle of the field where Nick Wile found him for the score. Asuan dished out an assist of his own to Aidan Moore with just 13 seconds on the first quarter clock to give the Cards the early 3-0 advantage.

The Crusaders scored their first of the game to open play in the second quarter on a man-up advantage… they cut the deficit to two, the closest they'd be to the Cardinals on the scoreboard the remainder of the game.

After the Crusader score the Cardinals closed the half with a three-goal run. All six first half scores came from the stick of a different Cardinal.

Otterbein blanked the Crusaders in the third frame while netting five more goals to balloon the lead to 11-1. The two sides traded a pair of goals in the fourth but the Otterbein defense locked up the Crusaders all night, holding Capital to its lowest scoring performance since a 2015 matchup with Kenyon.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The win was the first for the Cardinals over Capital since 2016, a 9-6 win in Westerville.
   
• Five of the previous seven meetings between the two programs had been decided by four goals or less.
   
• Otterbein is now 5-0 this season when they play in the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium.
   
• Zach Groene was a brick wall in net all night, making 12 saves on 28 Capital shots.
   
• The Cards out shot Capital by a large margin, 45 to 28, and cleared at a near perfect 25 of 28 rate.
   

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Cardinals will enjoy some time off before they gear up for another matchup with Muskingum next Saturday. The Cardinals won game one in a physical contest, 10-5. Game time from New Concord is scheduled for 1 p.m.