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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's soccer team fell short in a rematch of last year's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Championship on a chilly night at Memorial Stadium, as visiting John Carroll struck early and then found an insurance goal late for a 2-0 outcome.

The Cardinals take their first loss in OAC play as a result, now standing 8-2-3 overall and 2-1-3 against the league. John Carroll (4x defending champs) are now 5-1 in the conference to keep pace behind nationally-ranked Ohio Northern.

The Blue Streaks jumped ahead quickly in the eighth minute after the Otterbein defense tried clearing a ball, which instead fell to the lap of Hayden Haffner roughly 20 yards out. He roped a left-footed laser inside the left post to ignite the visitor bench.

JCU retreated a few midfielders from that point to play solid keep-away possession, taking a marginal 7-4 shot advantage into the locker room for halftime.

A contest that saw three yellow cards remained physical across the second half, where the Cardinals pushed forward looking for an equalizer. They held a 9-4 edge on shots in the period but just couldn't quite break through.

The best opportunity came with about 15 minutes left off a deflected cross, but a charging Cardinal player couldn't quite connect with the ball as JCU's defense immediately booted it from harm's way.

Otterbein brought goalkeeper Casey Thompson a little out from the net across the 35 in the closing minutes, and John Carroll managed to sneak in an insurance tally with just 40 seconds remaining.

A clear from the back line led to a 50-50 ball, won by the Streaks before Michael Burrington finished into the lower corner against a retreating Thompson.

The sides were near even in almost every stat category, with Otterbein holding edges on total shots (13-11) and corner kicks (7-5).

Thompson made five stops for the Cards while JCU keeper Jake Vogrin had six of his own.

Otterbein stays home to conclude the week, hosting Baldwin Wallace as part of Senior Day come Saturday at 2 p.m.