Box Score HANOVER, Ind. – The Otterbein men's soccer team needed second-half heroics to escape victorious at Hanover College on Saturday afternoon, but the Cardinals did just that in manufacturing a gritty 2-1 decision.

The Cardinals trailed for nearly 50 minutes of match time after a brutal stretch early in the day. Senior defender Mark Wischmeyer was red carded in the 17th minute, forcing Otterbein to play a man-down the remainder of the match.

Making matters worse, the Panthers then immediately grabbed a 1-0 lead just a few minutes later behind Omar Dizdar's third goal of the season.

Freshman Kelvin Mkwawa saw a shot saved in the 27th minute, and the Cardinals didn't see many opportunities leading into the half trailing.

Casey Thompson helped set the tone in the second half with an early save, and the Cards kept grinding until finding an equalizer late. Will Isaac lofted a perfect free kick to the far side of a crowded box, where freshman Colm Oneacre redirected a header back inside the right post for his first college goal.

Sophomore Patrick Ahrens subbed into the match right after, and would end up scoring the game-winner just seven minutes later on another similar set piece. Kasdin Hale found space to dribble up the right side, feeding a quick pass back to Isaac. The fifth-year veteran sent another cross into nearly the exact same spot as before, where Ahrens buried another header home to erupt the Otterbein sideline.

Thompson needed to stand tall late, and the senior goalkeeper did by making three additional saves in the closing stretch… including the last one just over 90 seconds before the horn.

The game saw a combined 25 shots, with Thompson making a career-high 10 saves in the visitor net.

Otterbein will now get prepped for another big non-conference showdown middle of next week, hosting nationally-ranked Denison as part of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff on Wednesday is slated for 5 p.m.