WESTERVILLE, Ohio—The Mount Union women's lacrosse team defeated Otterbein 13-12 with a 4th quarter comeback, featuring a 5-0 run over the last 4:33 including a last second game winning goal from sophomore Ella Nejad (Rocky River) in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday evening.
 
The Purple Raiders (7-3, 2-1 OAC) were led by Nejad with four goals, senior Katie Clark (Hudson / Walsh Jesuit) with three goals while seniors Eden Kesler (Chargin Falls / Kenston) and senior Tara Santoro (Canfield) with junior Mackenzie Kolstad (Victor, N.Y. / Victory) scored two goals each.
 
Kolstad led the team in groundballs picking up eight for the team with junior goalie Abby Lindkvist (Greenlawn, N.Y. / Harborfields) making eight saves for the Raiders.
 
Leading Otterbein (4-4, 3-1 OAC) was Carli Rigel with four goals and Alyssa Glenn with three goals.
 
FIRST QUARTER
The Raiders came out strong and set the tone for the game getting two quick goals by Nejad and Clark. Otterbein was quick to answer going on a 3-0 scoring run to hold the Raiders and take the lead going into the second quarter 3-2.
 
SECOND QUARTER
Mount Union got a quick response to start the second quarter with a goal from Santoro to tie the game at 3. Mount Union was able to extend their leading going on a 2-0 scoring run, with a goal each form Santoro and Clark to lead 5-3. Otterbein was able to come back and tie the game going into halftime 5-5.
 
THIRD QUARTER
The Cardinals were able to get the first goal in this quarter and reclaim their lead but the Raiders answered quickly with a goal from Nejad, making it a tie again 6-6. The rest of the quarter was all Cardinals, where they went on a 4-1 scoring run, the Purple Raiders were able to get another goal from Kolstad, however the Cardinals kept their lead going into the final quarter up 10-7.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
Mount Union was able to close the gap getting the first goal of the final quarter from Nejad making the score 10-8, still trailing Otterbein. Otterbein looked to have put the game out of reach with two more quick goals against the Raiders extending their lead 12-8 with under five minutes left in the game. Mount Union dug deep going on a 4-0 scoring run in just three minutes to tie the game 12-12 with under 90 seconds left to play as Kesler scored two and Kolstad got a goal. With eight seconds remaining, Kolstad was able to find Nejad, who found the back of the net, to win the game 13-12 for Mount Union.
 
Mount Union will return home to take on Baldwin Wallace in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday, April 10th at 7 p.m. in a Morgan's Message Dedication game.