Miller nets a Hat Trick as Women's Lacrosse falls 17-9 at Otetrbein in program's first-ever OAC Tournament game at Otterbein
By Tim Glon
WESTERVILLE — Ohio Northern made its first-ever Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament appearance on Tuesday night at Otterbein and represented well in a 17-9 loss at Memorial Stadium.
The fifth-seeded Polar Bears end their season at 7-10.
The fourth-seeded Cardinals (9-5) will advance to the semifinals on Tuesday night at top-seeded John Carroll.
ONU had a solid showing in its first-ever OAC Tournament appearance.
Sophomore Meredith Miller (Noblesville, Ind.) scored three goals and senior Annie McArn (Bay Village/Western Reserve Academy) and freshmen Noel Orioli (Westerville/North) scored twice each to lead Ohio Northern.
McArn, Orioli and sophomore Emma Perry (Pickerington/North) scored consecutive goals as ONU tied the game at 4-4 with 15:46 left in the half.
Otterbein would outscore Ohio Northern 5-1 to lead 9-5 at intermission and got the first three goals of the second half to lead 12-5 with 1:38 gone in the period.
The Cardinals put the game away with a 4-0 run over a 6:46 span to take a 17-7 lead with 14:23 to go.
Northern kept fighting and got a pair of goals a from Miller and held Otterbein scoreless the rest of the way.
The game was the final contest in the careers of seniors McArn, Megan O'Grodnik (Webster, N.Y./Schroeder) and Kayla Grace (Marysville).
"It was a tough one," ONU head coach Beth Hemminger said. "Otterbein is a great team and deserved to win. It was a tough year but there was tremendous growth and the future is bright for this program. I wish there would have been a difference outcome for our seniors. All three have worked extremely hard over the years. As a coach, it is so rewarding to see the players they have become and they will go on to do some amazing things. This program is on the right path because of the ground work laid by Annie, Megan and Kayla."
OU out-shot ONU 36-21 and held a 23-5 advantage in draw controls.
