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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – WHAT A FINISH!
After 110 minutes of scoreless battle, top seed Otterbein and 5x defending champ John Carroll went to a shootout Thursday evening in what became a thrilling Ohio Athletic Conference semifinal at Memorial Stadium.

The Cardinals, behind a late save from budding senior goalkeeper Casey Thompson, found a way to emerge 4-3 in the penalty kicks to survive and advance. Otterbein will now host Ohio Northern for the OAC Championship come Saturday at 2 p.m.

SETTING THE STAGE:

Both sides had encountered some tight battles in recent years, with seven of the past eight (coming in) having been decided by one goal or less. Last year, JCU eluded Otterbein in double overtime of this very same semifinal round.

Earlier this season, the Cardinals escaped John Carroll 1-0 in the 82nd minute to vault atop the league standings and ultimately earn the regular-season crown, top seed, and host honors for this latest 2023 installment…

1ST HALF:

The first dangerous opportunity (on either side) came for John Carroll about 25 minutes in, as a left-footed screamer heading upper 90 was acrobatically saved by 2x reigning OAC Defense Player of the Week Casey Thompson.

Carter Ely had a decent look sail high for Otterbein around the 29:00 mark, and the Blue Streaks saw a few better looks heading toward the break. The first two veered wide left and the latter, coming with under three minutes on the clock, saw a charging JCU player collide with Thompson before the ball popped up over the crossbar.

Otterbein received a free kick in the closing seconds before intermission, but a rope from Will Isaac had a little too much air under it.

2ND HALF:

The Cardinals began to see more push forward in the second half, mustering off a few decent looks midway through the period and then generating multiple st pieces around the 67th minute. A free kick had a chance, followed by a pair of corner kicks in where Mark Wischmeyer nearly curved one home (with his left foot )from the right side.

JCU had a shot through traffic shortly after that trickled just barely right, and fortunately so for Otterbein as Thompson appeared to have briefly slipped during the play. The visitors then had two prime looks in the final 90 seconds of regulation, but consecutive shots drifted wide left.

OVERTIMES:

The Cardinals nearly ended the night just two minutes into the first extra session on a free kick from Will Isaac, but a body flick from Andrew Rudesill was saved (lower right) on the goal line by JCU keeper Brenden Moher.

John Carroll went down the other way and earned a corner kick, where an ensuing volley in front of traffic missed the mark. Neither team would score the remainder of either OT.

SENSATIONAL SHOOTOUT:

John Carroll missed its first attempt and gave Otterbein early momentum. Conversions from Will Isaac, Mark Wischmeyer and Dominic Antronica along the way helped keep the upper hand with the Cardinals…

At 3-3, Thompson took center stage and made a diving stop to his right that gave fifth-year veteran Coby Stover a chance to end the night. He did just that by burying his PK home to erupt his teammates and home crowd.

BOX SCORE LOOK:

John Carroll was issued six yellow cards on the night in what morphed into a testy affair, as expected for this type of environment. A combined 25 fouls were whistled throughout.

The Blue Streaks finished with an 18-13 edge in total shots, but Thompson stood tall (literally and figuratively) with six saves. He entered the night leading the OAC in save percentage.

SUPER SATURDAY:

The Cardinals and second-seeded Polar Bears (advancing through their semifinal on PK's against Mount Union) will no square up with an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships on the line. The regular-season matchup between the sides ended with a 1-1 draw in Ada.