ADA — The Otterbein men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at No. 22 Ohio Northern and advanced 5-4 on PKs in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Thursday. The Cardinals will now play at top-seeded Mount Union in Saturday's championship game with an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (11-6-3 overall), Ohio Northern (13-3-4 overall)
• Venue: Kerscher Stadium - Ada, Ohio
• Otterbein is the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and Ohio Northern is the No. 2 seed.
• OAC Tournament page

The Game

• Ohio Northern got off the first shot of the game, as William Shaffer nearly put the Polar Bears ahead but hit the crossbar over the outstretched arm of Otterbein freshman goalkeeper Jason Villalobos in the 17th minute.
• The Cardinals created an opportunity in the 24th minute when a bicycle kick shot from senior Nick Isaac went wide left of the goal.
• The teams remained in a scoreless draw at halftime with ONU holding a 4-1 edge in shots and both teams having attempted one corner kick.
• The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute on a goal from graduate student Carter Ely via assists from junior Drew Boettcher and Isaac.
• The Polar Bears tied the score on a long-distance goal from Alex Shaffer in the 72nd minute.
• Villalobos made an impressive save on a promising ONU shot with about 8:30 remaining.
• Ely headed a shot with about 3:30 left that sailed just high of the crossbar.
• An ONU shot was deflected wide left of the goal with just over a minute remaining, and another close-range shot was blocked with about 20 seconds left.
• Regulation ended with the score tied at 1-1.
• Villalobos and the Otterbein defense turned away a flurry of ONU shots with about 3:30 remaining in the first 10-minute overtime period. A shot from Otterbein graduate student Drew Holman was saved.
• A shot from senior Silver Abraham with about 3:45 left in the second overtime period was kicked away by an ONU defender to preserve the tie en route to sending the game to PKs.
• Isaac connected on the first PK, and ONU answered. The second PK for both teams was saved by their respective goalkeepers.
• Junior Jacob Irani, Boettcher and sophomore Josh Lord made the next three PKs for Otterbein, and ONU matched, sending the tiebreaker to a sixth round tied 4-4. Holman proceeded to find the back of the net for the Cardinals, and the Polar Bears were unable to answer thanks to a save from Villalobos to secure the win for Otterbein.
• Villalobos played all 110 minutes in goal for the Cardinals and recorded four saves.
• ONU out-shot Otterbein by a 19-11 margin, including 5-4 in shots on goal. The Polar Bears finished with a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. There were a combined 22 fouls in the game.

Quotes

• Freshman Jason Villalobos on the win: "It feels great. We lost to them in the regular season, so coming back and performing the way we did tonight feels amazing."
• Villalobos on the PKs: "It felt good. The fans were chirping at me the whole time, and making that winning save was amazing. I've never felt that high before. It feels good to support the team like that."
• Head coach Jason Griffiths on the win: "It feels great. We lost to Ohio Northern in the regular season, and the guys were hungry to get this game back. I'm proud of the guys. It was a gutsy performance. It was a close game. Both teams had chances. PKs are sometimes a crapshoot, and a little bit of luck is involved, but the guys gritted it out, and Jason made a couple great saves. It was a great performance."
• Griffiths on Villalobos' play: "He's played well all season. The guys trust him, and he's made some big saves in big games this year, and he did tonight as well. We trust him, and that goes a long way for his confidence. I think we did a good job prepping him for PKs, but he still has to go out and make the saves, and he did that tonight, which is huge for a freshman. I'm proud of him."

  Notables

• Otterbein fell 3-1 at Ohio Northern in the teams' regular-season matchup on Oct. 23. The Cardinals are 5-11-4 against the Polar Bears dating back to 2008.
• This marks Otterbein's 15th appearance in the OAC Tournament. The Cardinals have a record of 16-7-2 in tournament play with six championships. Saturday will mark the team's 10th finals appearance.
• Ely's goal was his seventh of the season. He has 43 career points on 16 goals and 11 assists.
• Isaac's assist was his 13th of the season. He has 47 points on 14 goals and 19 assists in his Otterbein career.
• Boettcher's assist was his fourth of the season. He has 11 points on four goals and three assists in his Otterbein career.
• In his eighth season with the program, Otterbein head coach Jason Griffiths holds an overall record of 93-38-15.
• Ohio Northern is ranked No. 22 nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Poll, which was released on Oct. 29, and ranked No. 3 in Region VII.