WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein women's lacrosse team was on the cusp of its biggest win in program history Saturday afternoon, leading Mount Union by four goals with under five minutes left before the Raiders struck a Houdini-like rally that left Memorial Stadium speechless.

The Cardinals, entering the day perfect in league play, held a 12-8 lead after a huge goal from Carli Rigel with 4:54 showing on the fourth-quarter clock. However, in wild fashion, Mount Union erupted to close the day on a 5-0 run and score the game-winner with just eight seconds left.

As a result, Otterbein is forced to swallow its first OAC defeat of the year but still stands 7-4 overall and 3-1 against the league. Mount, making the NCAA second round last year, is now 7-3 overall and 2-1 within the conference.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:

• The first two and a half quarters featured a true game of runs. Mount led 2-0 early but Otterbein settled in with three-straight goals, the last coming from Logan Fox to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
   
• Both sides then traded three-goal runs bridging into the second half. The Raiders vaulted ahead 5-3 until Otterbein drew even by intermission, and then found a goal from Ava Robey to begin a big third quarter.
   
• The Cards posted a 5-2 scoring edge in the third alone, opening a 10-7 lead in the closing minute after Rigel found the back of the net. The home side then held its biggest margin (12-8) after Rigel scored her fourth…
   
• But Mount Union scored 21 seconds later and proceeded to rip off a furious closing rally. The visitors still trailed by three (12-9) approaching the two-minute mark before another goal kept momentum on their side, and multiple draw controls in a row allowed them to retain possession.
   
• The equalizer came with 1:29 left, and the game-winner occurred on a man-up situation in the closing seconds after Otterbein was issued a red card behind the net. Ella Nejad wound up finishing with the final shot of regulation.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Both sides settled near even in practically all stat categories, with the Raiders holding a 33-26 shot advantage.
   
• The game featured two premiere goalies in the OAC as Maggie Nance (11) and Abby Lindkvist (8) combined for 19 saves
   
• Robey had eight points to lead all offensive weapons, tying her recent Otterbein single-game record for most assists with six. She also becomes the program's new single-season record holder for most assists (36).
   
• Rigel added four scores while Alyssa Glenn had three, in addition to some nice solo clear attempts late.
   
• Nejad had four goals and five draws to lead the visitors.

UP NEXT:

Despite the tough final result, there is still plenty of lacrosse left to be played and the Cardinals will look to flip the page into next week and head up to John Carroll on Wednesday evening. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m.