Box Score Otterbein 4, Ohio Wesleyan 1Junior midfielder Brian Schaefer (Chatham, N.J.) scored to erase a 1-0 deficit, but Otterbein got the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute and went on to defeat 12th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan in non-conference action on Wednesday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
The win was Otterbein's first over Ohio Wesleyan since 2002, when the Cardinals outscored the Bishops on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional championship game, which was counted as an Otterbein win under 2002 rules. Ohio Wesleyan was unbeaten (11-0-1) in the last 12 meetings with Otterbein.
Scoring chances were scarce during the first 15 minutes of the game, but Otterbein made good on its first opportunity when Ross Pfeil drove in and shot from the left side. Senior Colin Beemiller (Pickerington/North) made the save, but the rebound went to Luis Rivas on the right side, and he tucked the ball into the goal to give the Cardinals the lead.
The Bishops threatened in the waning minutes of the half, with junior midfielder Lonnie Barnes (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) fielding a return pass and sending a shot just outside the left post in the 37th minute. Junior midfielder Ricardo Balmaceda (Houston, Texas/The Village School) fired a shot off a corner kick that was saved by Cardinal keeper Mack Stamper in the 42nd minute.
Beemiller made a pair of saves on Otterbein's Reid Wolfe in the 44th minute, denying Wolfe's initial shot, then making the stop on Wolfe's follow attempt.
The Bishops evened the game in the 59th minute when junior forward Matt Cohen (Cincinnati/Seven Hills) sent a through ball to Schaefer, who finished the chance to even the game.
Beemiller preserved the tie with a pair of saves just over a minute apart, thwarting Jared Pulliam in the 69th minute and Conor Holland in the 70th minute.
The Cardinals got the go-ahead goal just under 2 minutes later as Jaden Lunger headed home a corner kick off the foot of Luke Crea.
The Crea-Lunger connection nearly clicked again for the Cardinals after a corner kick in the 84th minute.
Ohio Wesleyan got a few chances at the tying goal, first when junior forward Evan Lee (Toledo, Ohio/St. Johns) drove through the Cardinal defense but saw his shot saved by Stamper in the 85th minute, then when Cohen's shot off a crossing pass from sophomore midfielder Nick Norman (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) went over the crossbar just over a minute later. Lee had another look from inside the box in the 87th minute, but his shot was blocked.
Otterbein scored an insurance goal in the 88th minute when Costa Poulias sent a through ball to Pulliam, who made a run and scored, and the Cardinals added a goal in the 89th minute when Norris came up with a loose ball and finished the chance.
"They beat us in every possible way," said Ohio Wesleyan head coach Jay Martin. "They outcoached us, outdefended us, outhustled us. This was one of the worst games by an Ohio Wesleyan team in my 37-plus years, and I take some credit for that. We clearly weren't ready to play. Otterbein deserved that win."
Otterbein outshot Ohio Wesleyan, 17-13. Beemiller finished with 7 saves for Ohio Wesleyan, while Stamper stopped 3 shots for the Cardinals.
Box Score
