WESTERVILLE, Ohio – An Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) quarterfinal showdown between cross-town rivals Capital and Otterbein lived up to all the billing Tuesday night inside another wet Memorial Stadium, as the two foes squared off in another game amidst rainy conditions.

By final horn, the Cardinals would use a pair of crucial fourth-quarter goals off the stick of senior Nawny Bailey to escape with a thrilling 8-7 victory and keep their season rolling. Otterbein, seeded third in the six-team event, advances to play No. 2 seed John Carroll in a Thursday semifinal.

Capital, seeded sixth, ends its season at 7-6 overall after dropping both contests to Otterbein this season. The Cards prevailed with a 13-3 triumph back on April 10.

Otterbein led 2-1 early after leading scorer Xander Seal was involved in both goals, assisting Aidan Moore on the first and then scoring two minutes later. Capital split the difference, but the Cards kicked back into gear with a three-goal run bridging the first and second quarters.

That spurt opened a 5-1 lead for the hosts, but Capital settled in to battle back with a 3-0 run of its own. No goals were scored over the final six minutes of the second quarter as Otterbein carried a slim 5-4 lead into the break. Moore tallied a hat trick in the initial 17 minutes of game time.

The second half played its way into a low-scoring, knock down, drag-it-out slugfest. Both defenses came up with timely turnovers and each goalie (Otterbein's Zach Groene and Capital's Ben Houser) kept making stops in the cage.

A 6-6 deadlock entered the final period until Bailey roped home a shot at the 10:29 mark. Capital tallied a big equalizer with 3:28 on the clock, but Otterbein would enjoy the final laugh coming out of a late timeout.

Seal waited patiently behind the net, before feeding a pass to Bailey and watching his classmate bury home the game-winner with 1:13 to play. Otterbein won the ensuing faceoff, but two turnovers gave the Crusaders a pair of chances. However, another pair of turnovers by the visitors allowed the Cards to emerge.

Groene made 15 saves in goal for Otterbein while Houser also reached double digits on the other end. Capital finished with a 38-27 shot advantage despite the Cardinals winning 11 of 17 faceoffs.

Otterbein now heads back to University Heights for the second time in five days, recently dropping a tough 14-2 matchup with the Blue Streaks. Opening faceoff Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m.