WESTERVILLE, Ohio (September 27, 2023) – The Denison University men's soccer team lost its second match in a row heading into conference play as the Big Red surrendered the game-winning goal in the final minute of the match and fell 2-1 at Otterbein University on Wednesday evening.
The first goal of the contest came off a defensive deflection and own goal by Otterbein in the 23rd as
Corey Brunner moved the ball up the right side of the field towards the goal. With a swift touch that created space off his defender, Brunner cut just inside the 18-yard box where he launched a hard shot towards the back post, but as Otterbein's Mitchell Patterson attempted to cut across the field to stop the attack, he rather took the brunt of the ball and the deflection off his head landed the ball in the back of the net.
In the 52nd minute, however, the Cardinals found their equalizer in the form of a penalty kick as redshirt senior Will Issac hit a strong shot that proved too difficult for
Tommy Prokos to stop.
After Otterbein tied it, Denison had a shot by Brunner blocked in the 57th minute, and then a pair of shots by
Jake Krueger (73rd minute) and
Kameron Kist (85th minute) were saved by Otterbein goalkeeper Casey Tompson.
Denison outshot Otterbein 7-4 in the second half, but the shot that made the difference was the final one as the Cardinals found themselves with a throw-in deep in Big Red territory. Chaos erupted just in front of the Denison goal as ultimately, Patterson found redemption for his own goal and delivered the decisive blow just inside the six-yard box to give the Cardinals their fifth win in their last six meetings against the Big Red.
Krueger paced the Big Red with five total shots and two shots on goal while
Henri Heyes added two shot attempts.
Denison, which has not defeated Otterbein since 2013, fell to 6-2-1 on the season while the Cardinals improved to 4-2-2 overall.
Head Coach
Brandon Bianco said afterwards, "It's always tough to end a game like that tonight. I thought the team did enough to deserve better, but we need to close things out. Our new season begins Saturday and I know we'll be looking forward to conference play."
Denison will kick off North Coast Athletic Conference action on the road this weekend as the Big Red travel to Hiram College for a 3 p.m. start on Saturday, September 30.
