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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – It was a Senior Day at Memorial Stadium filled with mixed emotions and results on Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals recognized seven upperclassmen during a pregame ceremony before unfortunately resting on the low end of a very competitive 16-13 contest with their cross-town rival.

The Cardinals fall back to 7-7 on the year and 4-4 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play as a result while the Comets move to 6-2 against the league this year.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT:

The Cardinals recognized Aidan Moore, Davis Tanaka, Justin Dyer, Alex Menendez, Max Graham, Ethan Dewes and Austin Bacon prior to opening faceoff for their contributions to the program. The group entered college during the COVID pandemic and helped see the team through the last four years.

FIRST QUARTER FLURRY:

Capital netted a pair of quick goals before Otterbein found momentum to end the period, scoring three-straight times (unassisted) and the last two within a minute of each other. A pair of Carson Rainone goals were sandwiched around a nice rope from Zach Mulligan.

SPAULDING IN THE SECOND:

The Comets regrouped and went on a 5-0 run in the second quarter, thanks in large part to OAC leading scorer Mason Spaulding and his three goals in less than a four-minute span. Max Graham eventually stopped the bleeding with a nice man-up conversion and the Cards still only trailed 8-5 at the break.

THIRD QUARTER TUSSLE:

The game of runs saw Capital open a 10-5 lead before the Cardinals came soaring back once again, this time with another three-goal run courtesy of Graham and then two from Dom Dean. All of a sudden, the crowd had life with their team only trailing 10-8…

Unfortunately, that would be short lived as Spaulding silenced the home side with a goal just seven seconds later… and Ty Chase tallied another for the Comets with 27 seconds left in the period.

FOURTH QUARTER FINALE:

Capital used that momentum to net another four goals in the fourth and bust the game open. Otterbein never quit and battled admirably down the stretch, scoring three times in the final 4:33 of game time to help shrink the final margin.

BOX SCORE NOTABLES:

• Each team ripped off exactly 43 shots across the even game, as goalies Luke Farthing (16) and Luc Kadlic (13) combined to make 29 saves while seeing a good amount of pressure.
   
• Spaulding had seven goals to lead all players while Chase and Nathan Montgomery both ahd five-point efforts for the Purple and White.
   
• Graham scored four times to lead Otterbein on his Senior Day, Dean posted a hat trick, while Mulligan and Jack Regruth had four-point showings.
   
• Usually a chippy game between these two rivals, this latest installment only saw five penalties whistled the entire day.
   
• Otterbein performed fairly well against a potent Capital faceoff squad, led by standout Freddy Noday, but the Comets still ended up winning 20 of 33 opportunities. Sam Becker went a solid 7 of 14 at the X.

REGULAR-SEASON FINALE:

Otterbein will have one more regular season contest down at Marietta this coming Wednesday, with postseason seeding on the line as both teams enter with the same league mark.