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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Someone's "0" had to go Wednesday night on the Ohio Athletic Conference women's soccer scene, as league unbeatens Otterbein and John Carroll took the pitch at Memorial Stadium with sole possession of first place on the line.

Unfortunately, despite controlling possession and most categories on the final stat sheet, the team would be Otterbein. John Carroll used a counter sequence in the 71st minute and held on for dear life down the stretch to emerge with a 1-0 decision.

As a result, the Blue Streaks improve to 10-1-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 against the OAC. The Cards endure just their second defeat in the past month and are now 9-3-2 overall, 5-1 within the conference.

Not much action took place in a tight first half. John Carroll had one free kick blocked and Otterbein saw a few of its own via the strong leg of Payton Kaufman, but JCU's defense thwarted each incoming ball.

Both sides opened things up moving forward into the second half, which ended up seeing 16 of the 23 shots on the night as a whole. Otterbein saw a prime opportunity in the 70th minute involving recent subs Kylie Hast and Cailynn Adelman, who checked back into the match less than 60 seconds prior…

An initial shot from Hast was saved off the chest of JCU keeper Madeline Martin Kosier and back into the box, where Adelman found the ball at her feet but with her body turned around and not knowing what/who was behind her. She instead fed a pass backward to a teammate, but no second shot was able to get off.

John Carroll countered the opposite direction over the next minute and piece together the difference-making sequence. Sara Gennuso found room down in the left corner and fed a ball through multiple players into the center of the box. Teammate Emma West was there to kick it at the same time as a charging Cardinal, and the ball sailed high and left toward the upper corner of the net….

Ella Schwertfager got both hands on the rising ball, which popped free and into the left side of the goal along with Schwertfager herself.

Otterbein turned up the juice down the stretch in looking for an equalizer. The Cardinals brought most of their formation into the lower third and rattled off multiple corner kicks and shots, but to no avail. Rae Ehbar had a shot saved (bottom right) in the 88th minute that ended up being the last look.

The Cards finished with a 15-8 shot advantage on the night and a lopsided 10-0 edge in corners. Kosier made seven important stops in goal to earn a shutout for JCU, which beats Otterbein for the first time since 2016.

Otterbein will look to regroup quickly as it stays home to conclude the week, hosting Baldwin Wallace on Saturday as part of Senior Night at 5:30 p.m.