No. 24 Men's Soccer falls in penalty kicks to Otterbein in OAC Tournament Finals

ADA — The No. 24-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team fell to Otterbein in penalty kicks on a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Finals.

The Basics

• The teams played to a 0-0 draw in regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
• Otterbein then won the tournament on penalty kicks, 5-4.
• The match is officially recorded as a tie.
• Records: #24 Ohio Northern (12-0-7 Overall), Otterbein (11-2-6 Overall).
• Venue: Kerscher Stadium — Ada, Ohio.

The Match

• The match remained scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods, leading to penalty kicks.
• Ohio Northern's first penalty kick from senior Gage Foster (Mason) was saved by the Otterbein goalkeeper.
• The Polar Bears were perfect on their next four PKs.
• Otterbein went 5-for-5 on their PKs to win the tournament.
• Junior Colin Gottron (Centerville) lead ONU with five shots and three shots on goal.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Carson Zurmehly (Batavia/McNicholas) had three saves in goal for ONU.
• ONU out-shot OU 20-15, but OU had an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks.

Notables

• Ohio Northern was making its 26th OAC Tournament appearance.
• ONU was the No. 1 seed and Otterbein was the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
• Northern has won eight OAC Tournament titles in the 51-year history of the program.
• The Polar Bears have tied their longest undefeated streak in program history of 19 matches. The last time ONU was unbeaten through 19 games was 2016.
• This season marked the first time in ONU history that the men's soccer squad was undefeated after regular season play.
• The Polar Bears are now 20-24-4 all-time against Otterbein, including a 11-10-4 mark in Ada and a 5-0-3 record in Kerscher Stadium.
• Gottron leads the team this season with 19 points off seven goals and five assists.
• Freshman Miles Armstrong (Marysville) is second on the team with 17 points off six goals and five assists.
• Foster has a team-best eight assists.
• Zurmehly leads the OAC in goals against average (.680), shutouts (10) and save percentage (.797).
• Zurmehly is ranked tied for 7th all-tim in ONU history with 11 career shutouts and is tied for 5th all-time in single-season shutouts.
• Gottron is tied for the lead in the OAC with four game-winning goals.
• This is the 51st season of Ohio Northern men's soccer. The Polar Bears are now 553-299-85 all-time in program history.
• Sixth-year head coach Chris Matejka is now 82-31-26 at Ohio Northern.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will find out Monday at 11:30 a.m. if they have received an at-large bid into the NCAA III Tournament. Polar Bear fans can watch the selection show live on NCAA.com.