WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinals were forced to try and score against a stingy and rigid Ohio Northern defense on Wednesday night in conference play, but couldn't generate quite enough on the attack as the Polar Bears grinded their way to a 13-4 decision at Memorial Stadium.

Both teams entered the night even (1-1) in the OAC, with Ohio Northern now leaping back over that .500 mark and the Cardinals resting just below.

THE PLOT:

• Neither team scored over the initial 11 minutes of action in what was a very clean start, with both sides converting crisp passes and finding shot attempts. However, both goalies/defenses stood tall in keeping the game scoreless…
   
• ONU finally hit the board with a 4-0 run bridging into the second quarter. Otterbein stopped that bleeding temporarily on a goal from Jack Regruth, but the Polar Bears regained momentum less than a minute later.
   
• The second half was a game of runs, beginning with a trio from the visitors to make the deficit 8-1.
   
• Otterbein finally hit a groove of its own with three goals over a five-minute span to end the period on a high note, only trailing 8-4 entering the fourth.
   
• Neither team would score over the next nine minutes of game time before, unfortunately, the Polar Bears ended the night on a 5-0 run to put things away.

THE BOX SCORE:

• Ohio Northern finished with a 48-25 edge in total shots, including a 28-12 margin on goal. Mitchel Luck tallied a hat trick for the visitors.
   
• Luke Farthing, back for Otterbein after a one-game absence due to injury, made 15 save to try and keep his squad close. His goalie counterpart, Cole Zaferakis, made eight in the opposite net.
   
• Both man-down units combined to kill all five penalties.
   
• Davis Tanaka came on in the second half to win 4 of 7 faceoffs or the Cards, albeit Ohio Northern captured 12 of 21 overall on the evening.
   
• The Cardinals had six turnovers in the final quarter compared to just one for ONU.

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT:

Otterbein will look to finish the week strong by traveling up north to play Mount Union, with opening faceoff inside Kehres Stadium set for 1 p.m.