It was a Super Saturday for the Otterbein men’s soccer team at Memorial Stadium, as the Cardinals earned their first outright OAC regular-season title since 2017 with a multi-goal victory over nationally ranked Mount Union! The win officially marks the program’s second league title in the last three years, having shared the 2021 regular-season crown with John Carroll. 
 
The Cardinals, ending the league schedule at 8-0-1 overall, beat the No. 8-ranked Purple Raiders by a 2-0 final to cement the top seed in next week’s postseason tournament. The result extends Otterbein’s unbeaten streak to 10 matches and almost six weeks of action. 
 
SCORING SEQUENCES: 

• Both teams spent the initial 18 minutes feeling one another out until the Cardinals struck… 
    
• In the 19th minute, Carter Ely fed a pass up the right sideline to Nick Isaac. His cross through the box landed at the feet of Mitchell Patterson, who took one touch and gathered himself before a shot. That rope worked its way past two defenders, the Raider keeper and then another defender on the goal line. 
    
• Just a few minutes before halftime, Otterbein doubled up its lead for a huge momentum boost entering the break. A nice throw-in from the home sideline found the head of senior Mark Wischmeyer, who flicked a header on to Kasdin Hale in front of the net. His prompt header landed home to absolutely erupt the Cardinal bench. 
    
• Otterbein defended superbly in the second half to keep Mount off the board. Casey Thompson, reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, set the tone by saving a penalty kick in the 52nd minute against Mount leading scorer Carter Hanock. 
    
• Thompson jumped to make another save in the 75th minute, and the Cardinals would go on to record their fifth-straight shutout! 

BOX SCORE NOTABLES: 

• The Cardinals have not allowed a goal over the last 463 minutes of regular-season action, outscoring their opponents 14-0 in the span. 
    
• A very physical matchup saw a combined seven yellow cards issues throughout, along with another 19 fouls. 
    
• Otterbein has now won five-straight matchups in the series. 

UP NEXT: 
 
The Cards will have some time off to rest before hosting an OAC Tournament semifinal matchup on Thursday. Start time is TBD. 

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