CLEARWATER, Fla. – A strong fourth quarter helped the Otterbein men's lacrosse team secure its first victory of the season on Tuesday afternoon, as the Cardinals scored six times in the period to work past Clark University (15-10) at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:

• Otterbein fell behind early, trailing 4-1 after Clark scored twice early in the second period.
   
• The Cards went on a 5-2 run from that point into halftime, beginning with unassisted goals by Adam Swindell, Cayden Rohe and Ty Forney.
   
• A four-goal run (with three assisted) bridging intermission helped Otterbein leap in front. Nick Wile scored twice in the stretch sandwiched around tallies from Nawny Bailey and Nick Asuan.
   
• The Cardinals only led 9-8 entering the final quarter, but another 4-0 push created enough separation down the stretch. Included in the sequence was a man-up goal from Aidan Moore followed by a rare man-down score from Nick Clay.

 
NOTABLE STATS:

• Both sides ripped off an identical 39 shots and were almost dead even on faceoffs, with the Cardinals winning 15 of 29. Max Graham was a very efficient 13 of 18 for the Cards, snagging nine ground balls in the process.
   
• Freshman Luke Farthing, making his first college start, was impressive in the cage with 16 stops over the full distance.
   
• A rather clean game featured just four penalties, two whistled for each side.
   
• Otterbein had four multi-goal scorers in Moore, Clay, Forney and Wile.
   
• Colin Howard registered a game-high six points for the opposing Cougars, netting four of his own and assisting two others.

 
UP NEXT:

The Cardinals will remain in town and play a familiar foe later this week, squaring up against Wittenberg come Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.