MARIETTA, Ohio – It was a hard fought, narrow and key road win for the Otterbein men's lacrosse team on Wednesday night, as the Cardinals worked across the full 60 minutes to eventually dispatch of host Marietta in an 11-9 final.

The Cardinals improve to 4-3 in Ohio Athletic Conference play with the result as just two games remain in the league's regular season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Nick Wile scored 59 seconds into the game but Marietta settled in quickly with a big run, netting four goals in a three-minute span to fly ahead.
   
• Otterbein began climbing out of that early 4-1 hole bridging into the second quarter, receiving a pair from both Ty Forney and Max Graham to vault back in front. The Cards eventually led 6-5 at the break.
   
• Carson Rainone scored his second of the night midway through the third frame and Otterbein kept riding Forney, who tallied another two in pushing the lead to 9-5.
   
• The Pioneers opened the fourth quarter with a bang to keep things very interesting, scoring three in a row to only trail 9-8 with roughly 11 minutes to play.
   
• Shockingly enough, nobody scored for the next eight minutes of game time before insurance goals from Cole Werbrich and Forney created enough separation.

STATS ON STATS:

• Otterbein posted an overall shot margin of 42-24 behind a career-high five goals from the senior Forney. Three others had multi-point efforts.
   
• Both teams were flagged for six penalties on the night.
   
• Eddie McDonald was 10 of 24 at the faceoff X and collected five ground balls in the process.
   
• Luke Farthing made seven saves in goal and counterpart Ben Millard had 13 on the opposite end.
   
• The Cardinals forced Marietta into committing 22 turnovers, giving the ball away just 13 times themselves

UP NEXT:

• The Cards return home to play Mount Union this weekend as part of Senior Day at Memorial Stadium. Opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m.