WESTERVILLE — A goal from junior Alyssa Lemos and great defensive play earned the Otterbein women's soccer team a 1-0 victory over Hanover (Ind.) in its 2024 home opener on Sunday.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (2-0-0 overall), Hanover (1-1-0 overall)
• Venue: Memorial Stadium - Westerville, Ohio

Game Highlights

• The teams played a scoreless first half with Hanover out-shooting Otterbein by a 7-0 margin.
• In the 60th minute, Lemos took a pass from junior Cami McCulty and sent the ball past Hanover goalkeeper Phoebe Ramsey and into the back of the net on the left side of the goal to give the Cardinals a 1-0 cushion. Redshirt senior Jada Leyland also recorded an assist on the play on the throw-in.
• That one-goal lead held up thanks to some strong defensive play from the Cardinals as they secured their second straight shutout victory to open the season.
• Otterbein out-shot Hanover 8-2 in the second half and finished the game with an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.
• Ella Schwertfager played all 90 minutes in goal for Otterbein and recorded one save.

Video Highlight

• Alyssa Lemos scores the game-winning goal

Notables

• Head coach Brandon Koons is in his 26th year at Otterbein and boasts an all-time record of 340-102-42 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Lemos' goal was her first of the season and the third of her career, while McCulty and Leyland recorded their first career assists.
• Otterbein is now 2-1-1 all-time against Hanover, which was selected as the favorite to win the HCAC in 2024.

Quotes

• Junior Alyssa Lemos on her goal: "We had a hard time getting open in the first half. In the second half, I saw Cami McCulty in the corner, and I knew she could get the ball right to my feet. So I made that run to the middle, and she got the ball right to me, and I put my foot through it."
• Head coach Brandon Koons on Lemos' goal: "All the right people had to be in the exact places they were at there. If there's anyone who has to have a difficult finish, it's Alyssa. The goals she scores are the most fun things to watch. All the pieces fell in place for that one. That's what you have to do against a team like Hanover. They're always regionally ranked and well coached, so you just have to have that one moment where everything goes right."
• Koons on the team's 2-0 start: "It's been fun. We graduated half of our starting lineup from last year, and it's a different mentality for this team. It's a super academic team, so I gave them something new to try this year. We're playing a formation that we've never played before, and they're killing it. They're learning and teaching themselves things, and I'm learning from them. When you tie the fun part of that with two wins and two shutouts, you can't ask for anything better."