WOOSTER, Ohio – The Cardinals rested on the low end of another competitive non-conference matchup to begin the season Wednesday night, as the host Fighting Scots grew its lead during the second quarter and later emerged with a 14-10 decision.

Wooster claims its season opener while Otterbein drops to 0-2 following the narrow two-goal loss up at Albion over the weekend.

THE SCRIPT:

• Both sides traded goals in a back-and-forth opening quarter, where the Cardinals held a 11-8 shot margin but the Fighting Scots settled into a 3-2 lead on the actual scoreboard. Dom Dean and Zach Mulligan netted scores for Otterbein to begin…
   
• Wooster found a groove in scoring all three goals during the second frame, and then scored again roughly 90 seconds into the third for a 7-2 advantage.
   
• Nathan Lewis connected with fellow co-captain Aidan Moore to stop the bleeding temporarily, but the Scots rattled off another three tallies as part of an over-arching 7-1 run bridging the halves.
   
• Otterbein gathered itself and worked back nicely, embarking on a 6-2 scoring run itself leading into the midway point of the fourth. That late push was capped by consecutive man-up goals from Max Graham and Dean, who played a part in both.
   
• The Cardinals trailed just 12-9 with plenty of time left, but Wooster responded back to score twice in a span of just 19 seconds to seal the deal.

BOX SCORE NOTABLES:

• Lewis assisted four goals to lead the team in points while Dean, Moore, Graham and Jack Regruth all had multi-score performances.
   
• The Cardinals won 16 of 26 faceoffs in the middle, sparked by a 9 of 11 effort from Sam Becker and then Graham winning another seven to hover around 50%.
   
• Wooster served nine penalties on the night compared to just one for Otterbein, but the Cards were unfortunately just 2 of 8 in man-up situations.
   
• Otterbein finished just 14 of 24 clearing the ball while the Scots settled at 21 of 25.
   
• Lane Kellogg delivered a seven-point night to lead the home side, which also benefited from eight caused turnovers by Casey Steffen.
   
• Defensively for Otterbein, Luke Farthing made 11 saves and Alex Glackin forced three turnovers with the long stick.

LOOK AHEAD:

The Cardinals will now have nearly two weeks off to regroup before their next official contest over spring break. Otterbein will play at Averett (Danville, Va.) on March 4 and then travel to Guilford (Greensboro, N.C.) on March 6.