ADA, Ohio – What ended as a scoreless first half quickly saw a pair of goals traded rather early in the second half, as Otterbein and Ohio Northern would ultimately play to a 1-1 deadlock in OAC action on Wednesday night.

The result helps keep the Cardinals unbeaten within the Ohio Athletic Conference slate to begin a new month, now sitting 5-2-3 overall and 1-0-1 following a recent W over rival Capital.

The Polar Bears, coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last fall, are now a very similar 5-4-2 with the draw.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:

• Ohio Northern controlled more of the offensive possession during the initial 45 minutes, entering the halftime break with a 7-1 shot margin. Casey Thompson needed to save three of those.
   
• The Polar Bears finally got on the board to begin the second half, notching a goal early in the 53rd minute. Alex Shaffer fed a pass into the box for Ryan Sommerfield, who took four dribbles while marked by a defender but was able to slip a shot through the defense.
   
• Otterbein didn't waver. The Cards flew back roughly 12 minutes later to notch an equalizer off the foot of freshman Andrew Rudesill…
   
• Patrick Ahrens worked past a defender up the left side and down near the end-line before lofting a perfect cross in. Rudesill was there to bury home a header between the goalkeeper and a defender to secure his first college goal.
   
• Both sides traded possession and position in what became a true OAC battle, featuring six total yellow cards that were all issued in the second half. Jayden Lunsford had a shot saved lower left in the 85th minute that kept the knotted score.

 
BOX SCORE NOTABLES:

• Ohio Northern rakced up four of those yellows while the Cardinals absorbed two themselves.
   
• The hosts finished with a 15-6 advantage in shots, but only eight of the 21 total attempts in the match were on target.
   
• The contest saw a whopping 28 fouls whistled throughout, with 17 coming after intermission.
   
• Three of the last four meetings in this series have no results in draws.

 
SATURDAY SLATE:

The Cardinals will get right back on the bus to culminate the week, heading over to Muskingum for another road taking place this time at 2 p.m.