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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Despite a few chances with space late in the second half, Wednesday night marked a disappointing end to non-conference play for the Otterbein women's soccer team in a narrow 1-0 loss to Denison at Memorial Stadium.

OPENING STATEMENT:
The Cardinals (4-2-2 overall) were forced to try and overcome a halftime deficit and nearly did that on a few occasions down the stretch. Unfortunately, the Big Red defense survived the full 90 minutes to post a clean sheet and escape Westerville.

FIRST-HALF HOLE:
Neither side generated a ton of opportunities in a first half that saw just seven combined shot attempts. However, Denison made its best look count as halftime approached…

Isabella Gusman was possession after a challenge in the middle of the field and slipped a perfect through ball to Caroline Flynn, who quickly finished lower left to give the visitors the lead (for good) in the 35th minute.

SECOND-HALF SURGE:
Otterbein turned up the gas a bit needing an equalizer, and moved forward with opportunity a few different occasions over the latter 45. Two rips from leading scorer Anjuli Anderson were saved by Big Red keeper Molly Noga as things progressed…

The Cards grinded to find space down the right side and got around the Denison outside backers multiple times. A pair of balls fed back into the box for Morgan Somers after the 85th minute ended up just missing the mark or being stymied.

Otterbein looked to have a prime opportunity with 3x All-OAC defender Payton Kaufman coming up to barrel ahead in the closing 90 seconds, but a tough offside whistle halted the play and prevented any threat.

STAT CHECK:
Otterbein finished with edges in total shots (12-8) and shots on goal (5-3), while both sides took five corner kicks. Noga made five critical stops in between the pipes for Denison, which is now 3-2-4 overall after recently dropping a one-goal decision to reigning OAC champ Ohio Northern.

RIVALRY WEEKEND:
Otterbein will look to regroup quickly as a big test awaits this weekend, traveling across town to begin Ohio Athletic Conference play at rival Capital com Saturday night. Seven of the last eight matchups between the schools have been decided by one goal.

Kickoff from Bernlohr Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.