PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's lacrosse team faced a stuff test to culminate its three-game homestead Wednesday evening, as 5x defending Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) champion John Carroll rolled into town for a league battle.

The Cardinals (3-5, 1-1 OAC) took an early lead, but the visiting Blue Streaks would quickly prove themselves to be too strong in taking control and never looking back. John Carroll led 8-2 at halftime and ballooned its lead in the third quarter, ultimately prevailing by a final count of 18-5.

Dekaider Jackson was involved in both Otterbein goals in the first half, assisting Aidan Moore just 40 seconds in and then scoring off a pass from Cole Werbrich for a man-up goal just 81 seconds before intermission.

Unfortunately, JCU had a pair of 7-0 runs that tipped the scales across the duration of a full game. The Cards kept battling and netted a pair in the fourth (Nawny Bailey and Nathan Lewis), but John Carroll just had too much breathing room.

John Carroll (8-1, 2-0 OAC) finished with a 41-29 shot advantage and controlled the faceoff X behind Cam Cecere, winning 18 of 27 chances as a group. Five Blue Streaks recorded hat tricks.

Otterbein will look to get back into the win column this Saturday night, traveling up to Heidelberg for a matchup under the lights at 7 p.m.