WESTERVILLE — The Otterbein men's soccer team capped a fantastic day for Otterbein Athletics against rival Capital, claiming the Oar trophy with a 1-0 victory over the Comets on Saturday night. The Cardinal football, volleyball and women's soccer teams defeated Capital in the afternoon for Oars of their own, giving Otterbein a clean sweep of its rival on the day.
The Basics
- Records: Otterbein (8-6-2 overall, 4-3-0 OAC), Capital (5-7-4 overall, 4-2-1 OAC)
- Venue: Memorial Stadium - Westerville, Ohio
The Game
- Neither team was able to break through on the scoreboard in the opening half. Otterbein closed the first 45 minutes holding an 8-3 edge in shots, including 5-1 in shots on goal.
- The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the 54th minute when junior Drew Boettcher found graduate student Carter Ely open at the front of the end zone, and Ely kicked the ball past diving Capital goalkeeper Noah Thomas into the left side of the goal.
- Senior Tord Heskestad had a promising shot denied by Thomas in the 84th minute.
- The Comets put together an offensive charge in the waning seconds, moving Thomas up to play the field in their offensive zone, but was unable to capitalize as the Cardinals clinched the 1-0 victory to retain the Oar trophy.
- Freshman Jason Villalobos played all 90 minutes in goal for Otterbein and recorded three saves in the shutout.
- Otterbein out-shot Capital 18-10, including 10-3 in shots on goal, while Capital finished with a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.
Video Highlight
Quotes
- Head coach Jason Griffiths: "Four Oars in the bag feels really good. I thought we played really well the whole game. We managed what they were trying to look for in those transition moments and set pieces. We gave a couple set pieces away at the end, which was dangerous, but I thought we created a lot of chances of our own and deserved to win. I'm happy for Carter getting the game-winner against Capital. He's been playing really well, so he deserves it."
- Griffiths on carrying momentum into next week: "That's been a struggle for us this year is taking momentum and building on it. We have to use the confidence from this game and carry it into Wednesday against John Carroll. We won there last year, so our guys know that we can do it."
- Graduate student Carter Ely: "This win feels great. We'll take the momentum from this game, and hopefully it rolls over into the next one. We're going to keep working hard and hope it pays off."
Notables
- Ely's goal was his sixth of the season. He now has 41 career points on 15 goals and 11 assists.
- Boettcher notched his second assist of the season. He now has eight points this season on three goals and two assists.
- Villalobos now has nine shutouts on the season.
- Otterbein is now 8-7-4 against Capital dating back to 2008.
- Entering Saturday, Capital was fourth in the OAC standings, and Otterbein was sixth.
- In his eighth season with the program, Otterbein head coach Jason Griffiths now holds an overall record of 90-38-14.
