Ohio Wesleyan 2, Otterbein 1

Sept. 17, 2008

Freshman forward Matt Bonfini (Dublin/Coffman) scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute to lift Ohio Wesleyan over Otterbein in non-conference action on Wednesday at Roy Rike Field.

The Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead. Otterbein had earned a corner kick, and the ball rattled around the Ohio Wesleyan penalty area. Greg Atkinson kept the ball alive, and Byron Horton headed it into the Bishop net with 31:29 left in the first half.

That was the only dangerous scoring chance in a physical first half which saw both teams combine for a total of 7 shots.

The Bishops' best look of the half came shortly after that, when junior midfielder Jordan Halloran (Springfield/Catholic Central) ripped a shot from the right side that hit the crossbar.

Ohio Wesleyan applied more offensive pressure in the second half, assembling more scoring chances. Freshman midfielder Travis Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) hit the crossbar in the 55th minute, sophomore forward Tyler Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) sent a rocket over the crossbar less than a minute later, and sophomore back Eric Laipple (Westerville/South) had a shot from the right side batted away by Cardinal keeper David Dziedzicki.

The Bishops finally evened the game in the 79th minute, when Travis Wall sent the ball to sophomore midfielder Ryan Harmanis (Hilliard/Davidson), who uncorked a wicked shot from the top of the box and into the back of the Otterbein net.

The game-winner came with 4:08 left in regulation time as Halloran played the ball to Bonfini, whose blast from the left side was true for a 2-1 Bishop lead.

Ohio Wesleyan outshot Otterbein, 15-4. Junior Richard Ott (Norwalk) had 1 save for the Bishops, while Dziedzicki finished with 3 saves for the Cardinals.

Box Score