PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Late efforts were needed once again for the Otterbein women's soccer team Tuesday night to begin the postseason, as a goal from Morgan Somers (relatively late) in the second half propelled the Cards past Baldwin Wallace… 2-1.

As a result, No. 3 seed Otterbein advances to play Ohio Northern in the OAC Tournament semifinals come Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Polar Bears, seeded second, received a bye to start the six-team bracket.

HOW IT WENT DOWN:
The Cardinals took all momentum in the early going after Camryn Earl, playing her first postseason match in college, was taken down in the box for a foul. Payton Kaufman stepped up to rocket home a PK and go right into a celebration that included some combination of a downward fist pump, possible air guitar and culminating bow-and-arrow.

Otterbein protected its back end nicely over the remainder of the first half and nearly watched Kaufman double up the lead when she absolutely smoked a free kick from near midfield. The ball, trending upward, ricocheted off the cross bar and right post before BW keeper Katie Scott was able to corral it on the line.

Nevertheless, the Cards headed into intermission with a 7-2 shot advantage and one-goal cushion.

BW pushed forward to draw even on a nice sequence in the 57th minute, as Maddie Farrell shifted a pass to Yellow Jacket leading scorer Sydney Rice on the left side. She ripped a shot back across frame and into the right side of the net for her 11th goal of the season.

Otterbein shifted into another gear over the next 10-15 minutes, barreling down the field and applying significant pressure to the visitor defense. After a few narrow misses, Somers finally broke through after Bailey Zanella headed a goal kick back her way. Somers heal-kicked the ball over her defender and then buried a shot lower left.

Baldwin Wallace saw a couple of decent looks late on free kicks, but the Cardinals stood tall each time in prolonging their season. Otterbein finished with a 16-11 advantage on total shots and took all eight corner kicks on the night.

Scott made eight saves in the BW net while Ella Schwertfager was only forced to make one on the home side. The match saw a combined 23 fouls.

LOOKING AHEAD:
Otterbein and Ohio Northern will be meeting in the postseason for a sixth-consecutive year, having met in the 2017 semis followed by the last four championship matches.