On what turned out to be a very cold senior day, the Otterbein women’s soccer team won a hard-fought double overtime battle against the Mount Union Purple Raiders, 2-1.
With the win, Otterbein improves on the season to 10-5-1 and 5-2 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders fall to 11-5-1 on the season and 4-3 in the OAC.
Both teams came out strong defensively, as neither could break through in the first half, making it scoreless after 45 minutes.
The first point was put on the scoreboard in the 69th minute when sophomore Jillian Strimbu scored from nine yards out on an assist by senior Jill Knox to go up, 1-0.
The score stayed that way for most of the second half, and it looked as though victory for the Cardinals was inevitable. But, Mount Union sophomore Shannon Evans put that thought to bed when she scored with 1:30 left in regulation to tie the game, 1-1, and send it into overtime.
The first overtime period played out a lot like the first half of regulation. It was a hard fought defensive battle that resulted in a stalemate on the scoreboard, sending it into a second overtime.
The second overtime mimicked the first, with defense being the big story. Then, freshman Madison Burchfield threw the knockout punch, as she scored on an Alex Ancona corner kick, leading to an Otterbein victory, 2-1.
It was his team’s ability to remain calm that led to their overtime success, head coach Brandon Koons said.
“Honestly, it was just our ability to keep doing what we were doing,” Koons said. “We felt like we were creating some opportunities when we got behind them, so we just had to keep getting after them.”
The Cardinals had 33 shot attempts, while Mount Union only attempted four.
The Cardinals next game will be Tuesday at Marietta at 3:30 P.M.
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