ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Cardinals picked up an important victory on the lacrosse field Saturday afternoon, locking up the Purple Raiders en route to a 9-2 victory in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play.

As a result, Otterbein takes over strong hold of the fourth spot within the league standings entering next week's regular-season finale at Wilmington. A victory would officially clinch a home game in the league's upcoming postseason tournament.

The Cardinals, now 9-0 in the series history with Mount Union, get back to even on the season as a whole with their 7-7 record… 5-3 against the league. The Raiders drop to 8-6 this spring and 4-4 within league pay.

WHAT HAPPENED:

• Otterbein used more suffocating defense early, providing moments for its offense to walk through the door and build a lead. The Cards did just that in methodical fashion with two goals in each quarter before intermission...
   
• Cole Werbrich converted a man-up situation near the end of the opening frame, all part of a stretch that saw four different goal scorers on the visitor side.
   
• Mount Union sliced the deficit in half approaching the break, netting two goals in the closing 5:30 of the quarter to only trail 4-2.
   
• Otterbein's defense settled right back into a brick wall as the second half began, keeping Mount off the scoreboard for the full 30 minutes. Carson Rainone found Dekaider Jackson for a goal less than 90 seconds in, and a handful of insurance goals moving forward would be more than enough.
   

BOX SCORE NOTABLES:

• Otterbein finished with a sizeable 49-31 shot advantage, including a 19-4 margin in the first quarter.
   
• A supremely balanced effort for the Cards had eight scorers on nine goals, with Nathan Lewis being the only player at two. Six of those were assisted.
   
• Both goalies came to play. Kyle Reihner had a whopping 20 saves for the home side while Zach Groene made 14 in the Otterbein cage.
   
• Max Graham went a perfect 4 for 4 during his turns at the faceoff X, and the Cards were only whistled for one penalty across the full time.

 
LOOKING AHEAD:

• Otterbein will turn their attention to final exams this coming week, and take a break midway through with a road game down at Wilmington on Wednesday at 7 p.m.