ALLIANCE, Ohio – It was a nice surge back into the victory section for Otterbein in league play Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals stayed perfect in the all-time series with Mount Union behind a comfortable outcome at Kehres Stadium.

The Cardinals, emerging with a 17-6 decision, beat the Purple Raiders for an 11th time overall since the schools began competing in the sport back in 2013. Otterbein also gets itself back to .500 on the year with a 5-5 mark.

HOW IT WENT DOWN:

• Otterbein wasted no time assuming control with five goals (by five different players) in the opening period, holding the Raiders scoreless at the same time to build a decent lead.
   
• Mount Union found some momentum with a second-quarter push, embarking on a 4-1 run to claw back within a few goals by the midway point.
   
• But Otterbein regathered momentum with six goals in a row across the intermission break, starting with a 4-0 run to punctuate the half that began on a man-up conversion from Zach Mulligan. Two more goals started the third quarter, including a second advantage goal by Mulligan, to blow the game open at 13-4.
   
• The Raiders stopped that bleeding very briefly until back-to-back goals from Carson Rainone helped leave little doubt in the eventual outcome.

BOX SCORE NOTABLES:

• Rainone and Max Graham each scored four goals while Nathan Lewis led all point-getters with five on the day, coming via three goals and two assists. Mulligan also churned out a hat trick.
   
• Chase Lagore won eight of his 12 faceoffs for a unit that went 14 of 26 on the afternoon.
   
• Otterbein held a sizeable 50-30 edge in total shots.
   
• Mount Union was called for nine penalties on the day but was able to kill most of them. The home side got three points from Grant Dunmire and Spencer Logsdon.
   
• The Cardinals effectively cleared the ball 22 of 26 times, and saw a joint effort from Luke Farthing and Ethan Foster in the cage.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Cards return home and get set for a key showdown with 6x defending OAC Tournament champion John Carroll at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, as opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.