WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Capital University men's soccer team kicked off the postseason with a 4:00 p.m. match on Tuesday afternoon. The Comets played visitors to the campus of bitter rivals Otterbein University for the quarterfinals of the OAC Tournament. In a somewhat back-and-forth affair, the Cardinals proved too much for the Purple and White and CU's season came to an end with a 5-0 loss. 

Capital's season comes to a close with an overall record of 5-10-2. The Comets wrap up with a 4-5-1 mark against OAC opponents.

Otterbein will continue on with a 12-2-3 overall record and 6-1-3 against conference foes. 


HOW IT HAPPENED
The ball spent most of its time in the Capital attacking area of the pitch in the first half, occasionally making its way towards the Otterbein goal. Despite holding a good share of the possession in the first half, the Comets were only able to send two shots towards the net. When the ball was in the other end, the Cardinals made the most of it, scoring on their first shot of the game in the 33rd minute. The goal came shortly after an Otterbein free kick deep in the Comets' defensive zone, scored by Coby Stover and assisted by Will Isaac. The Purple and White pushed forward three more shots in the remaining minutes but to no avail. The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Cardinals heading into the half.

When the teams came out of the dressing rooms for the second half, Capital made sure to start stepping of the gas and push forward. Unfortunately for the Comets, a strong counter-attack in the opening minutes led to a penalty kick for the Cardinals after an Otterbein attacker was tripped up by Capital keeper Connor Sexton. The penalty kick was converted by Will Isaac and the Cards suddenly had a two-goal lead. Otterbein would go on to add another insurance goal in the 62nd minute coming from a corner and then two more in the remaining minutes to go up 5-0 in the end. 


THE NUMBERS
Capital fired off 14 shots in the contest, with four on target. 

Jack Kossoudji and Zade Awad led the squad on the offensive end with three shots apiece. Awad was able to connect on two of his shots but they were both saved.

Jarrett Puckett provided two shots from his wing-back position, both of which fell offline.

Rounding out the Capital offensive efforts were Mujahid Abdel-Ghani, Jack Francisco, Rhyan Caruso, Jacob Deever, Veron Fongeh, and Devon Hess, all with one. Deever and Hess were the only of the bunch to hit their mark.

Connor Sexton started the game in net for the Comets and played the first 60 minutes, making one save. He was replaced in the 61st minute by Kellen Sargent who went the rest of the way and made an additional three saves.