ANGOLA, Ind. — Fifth-year senior Max Graham scored four goals to lead the Otterbein men's lacrosse team in an 8-7 overtime loss at Trine (Ind.) on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals held the lead with the clock ticking under five seconds in regulation, but the Thunder converted a turnover into the tying goal and went on to score the game-winner in the sudden-death overtime period.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (0-2 overall), Trine (4-0 overall)
• Venue: Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium - Angola, Ind.
• The game was initially scheduled for Feb. 15 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Graham paced the Cardinal offense with four goals while adding three ground balls.
• Senior Dom Dean recorded two points on one goal and one assist.
• Sophomore Jack Regruth also had two points on one goal and one assist.
• Senior Carson Rainone scored the Cardinals' remaining goal.
• Freshman Tyler Bussard posted a team-high four ground balls.
• Sophomore Zach Courie played the entirety of the game in goal for Otterbein and recorded 18 saves.

Game Highlights

• First Quarter: Trine scored the first goal of the game, but Otterbein closed the quarter with a 3-0 run over the final 10:16. Graham scored all three goals to complete an early hat trick. After scoring an unassisted goal with 10:16 left, he gave the Cardinals the lead on a goal assisted by Dean with 1:23 remaining. His third goal, assisted by sophomore Andrew Lewis, came with just seven seconds on the clock and sent Otterbein into the second quarter with a 3-1 lead.
• Second Quarter: The Thunder got out to a hot start in the second period, putting together a 3-0 run in just over four minutes. They tied the score with 12:31 left and took a 4-3 lead with 10:42 remaining. That score held until Dean found the back of the net on an assist from Regruth for a buzzer-beating goal to send the game into halftime tied at 4-4. The tying score came on an inbounds play from behind the Trine goalkeeper with 1.3 seconds left, and Dean got the shot off just before time expired.
• Third Quarter: Regruth opened the scoring in the third quarter with a goal with 11:56 left to put the Cardinals up 5-4. After Trine tied the score with 5:39 remaining, Otterbein regained the lead on a man-up goal from Rainone with 1:18 left. The Cardinals took that 6-5 edge into the final period.
• Fourth Quarter: Trine tied the score with 9:44 remaining, but the Cardinals had an answer in the form of Graham's fourth goal of the game to regain the lead at 7-6 with 8:09 left. The Thunder had six shot attempts over final 3:12 as they tried to tie the score. The first three of those shots were saved by Courie, and the fourth went wide. Out of a timeout with 34 seconds left, Courie recorded a save of a Trine shot with six seconds remaining, but his pass was intercepted by the Thunder's Rocco Curatola. Curatola converted that turnover into a goal from close range, tying the score at 7-7 with two seconds left to ultimately send the game to overtime.
• Overtime: Otterbein was called for a penalty 12 seconds into the four-minute sudden-death overtime period, giving the Thunder a man-up opportunity. Trine took advantage, scoring the game-winning goal with 3:22 left for the 8-7 victory.
• Key Team Stats: Trine out-shot Otterbein by a 38-23 margin, and the Thunder finished with a 46-29 edge in ground balls. Trine won 14 of the 18 faceoffs. Otterbein had 26 turnovers to 28 for Trine.

Notables

• Head coach Colin Hartnett is in his 16th year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 133-109 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Graham has 76 career points on 56 goals and 20 assists. He has a team-high five goals and six points on the season.
• Rainone has 67 career points on 54 goals and 13 assists.
• Dean has 54 career points on 36 goals and 18 assists.
• Courie's 18 saves on Sunday marked a single-game career high, besting the 15 he recorded at Baldwin Wallace as a freshman on March 29, 2024.