No. 14 Men's Soccer eliminated in penalty kicks by Otterbein in OAC Tournament Semifinals

No. 14 Men's Soccer eliminated in penalty kicks by Otterbein in OAC Tournament Semifinals

Team Stats

November 7, 2024

ADA — The No. 14-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team was eliminated in penalty kicks by Otterbein in the OAC Tournament Semifinals on Thursday afternoon.

The Basics

  • The teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation and two overtime periods.
  • The Cardinals then advanced in the tournament on penalty kicks 5-4.
  • The match is officially recorded as a tie.
  • Records: #14 Ohio Northern (13-3-4 overall), Otterbein (11-6-3 Overall).
  • Venue: Kerscher Stadium — Ada, Ohio.

The Match

  • Otterbein scored 3:55 into the second half to go ahead 1-0 on a goal by Carter Ely.
  • Junior Alex Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) picked up his first goal of the season at the 71:15 mark on a magnificent 35-yard blast off assists from junior Gage Foster (Mason) and freshman Johnny Roussakis (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central)
  • Senior Lucas Hickey (Conroe, Tex./Oak Ridge) had three saves in goal for ONU.
  • After two 10-minute overtime periods did not produce a match-winning goal, the teams went to a 5-round penalty kick segment.
  • Each team scored in round one and missed in round two.
  • The teams traded goals for the next three rounds, sending the penalty kick competition into a sixth round.
  • The Cardinals advanced in the tournament with a fifth PK goal, while ONU's attempt was saved to end it at 5-4.
  • ONU out-shot OU 19-11 and had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Notables

  • Otterbein leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 24-19-5 margin.
  • Northern is 5-0-2 in the series at Kerscher Stadium.
  • ONU is the No. 2 seed, Otterbein is the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
  • Senior Ryan Sommerfeld (Dublin/Coffman) leads the team this season with 23 points, eight goals and seven assists.
  • Fifth-year senior Will Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) is right behind with 20 points on seven goals and six assists.
  • This is the 50th season of Ohio Northern men's soccer. The Polar Bears are now 540-298-79 all-time in program history.
  • Sixth-year head coach Chris Matejka is now 69-30-20 at Ohio Northern.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears will now wait until Monday to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA III Tournament.