At this Saturday's game, an early goal left the Otterbein men's soccer team to rely on their concrete defense to defeat Ohio Northern 1-0, and improved their record to (7-6-2, 4-3 OAC) as they draw closer to the OAC tournaments. With the Polar Bears being ranked 23rd in the nation, the Cardinals had their work cut out for them. Head coach Gerry D'Arcy was feeling anxious going into the game. "Being a nationally ranked team, I knew this was going to be one of our toughest games," D'Arcy said. "They also had the home-field advantage where they only lost one game all season. The lone goal by sophomore mid-fielder, Byron Horton, came 24 minutes into the first half. Horton took a perfectly centered pass from mid-fielder Auggie Fisher, and found the back of the net. "After scoring, I realized we still had a lot of soccer left to play and it was going to be a battle for the rest of the game," Horton said. After Horton's goal and the remaining 66 minutes of action, the Polar Bears didn't ease up with their numerous shot attempts. Senior captain Dan Ensign commended his team on their strategic game plan. "When an early goal is scored, we like to play and think more defensively for the next 10-15 minutes to make sure we can stop any kind of surge of energy the opposing team might have," Ensign said. "In our game on Saturday, those 10-15 minutes ended up being more like the rest of the game." Otterbein goalie David Dziedzicki tallied three saves before he was injured in the first half. Undeniably the aid of freshman goalie Alex Kamphaus came in handy. Kamphaus played an excellent game, tallying seven very impressive saves for the Cardinals. "Without the great play of our goalkeepers and defenders, there is no way we would have won this game," Horton said. The Polar Bears held a 23-12 shot advantage and attempted 11 corner kicks, compared to just two for the Cardinals. As time wore down, the Polar Bears were unable to find the back of the net, leaving the final score at 1-0. Ohio Northern is the second nationally ranked team that the Cardinals have brought an upset to, after beating Heidelberg the previous weekend. "We were pumped that we upset a nationally ranked team, even though it wasn't very pretty," said Ensign. "It just shows that the score at the end of the game is really the most important thing." With the end of the season approaching, the Cardinals have their hopes set on the OAC tournaments. "We're taking it one game at a time. We have to take care of business now so we can get into the tournament," Horton said. "Coach keeps telling us that this is a time when a lot of teams check out early and that we have the ability to control our own destiny." The Cardinals lost 3-0 to Muskingum on Tuesday night, and must beat the Capital Crusaders on Friday afternoon for a chance at making the tournaments. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m., here at Clements field. t&c;
Soccer heads into playoffs
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