Box Score In many ways, it was a fairy tale inaugural season for the John Carroll University men's lacrosse program.

The result of the Ohio Athletic Conference championship game, however, was not quite the fairy tale ending as the Blue Streaks fell to rival Otterbein University by a score of 13-8. 

The third-seeded Blue Streaks (13-4, 3-3 OAC) came into the OAC Championship riding a four game win streak, with the most recent being an 8-6 win over No. 2 seed Mount Union in  the OAC semifinals. After losing to Mount Union by an identical 8-6 score during the regular season, the Blue and Gold learned from their mistakes and beat the Purple Raiders the second time around. 

Having also lost to Otterbein during the regular season by a score of 15-7 – their only loss on the season by more than two goals – the Blue Streaks also looked to learn from their past mistakes against the Cardinals. However, the Cardinals prevailed once again, winning the first ever OAC men's lacrosse Championship.

After an early first quarter goal from the Cardinals, freshman Keegan Flinter tied the score at one with 9:40 left in the first. However, Otterbein's Mike Sullivan would respond with a pair of goals to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead after one quarter.

After falling behind 6-2 with 4:46 left before halftime, the Blue Streaks knew that it was time to respond with a run of their own. Freshman Stephen "Beef" Leous netted a goal with an assist from freshman Declan O'Grady.

O'Grady, the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week, then scored a goal of his own and Leous tacked on another as well, cutting JCU's deficit to 6-5 at halftime. 

Both the Blue Streaks and Cardinals scored one goal each in the third quarter, and the teams seemed to settle in at a 7-6 score as the final period approached. Otterbein, however, capitalized on a man up situation and scored two quick goals in the final 46 seconds of the third quarter to give themselves a 9-6  advantage heading into the fourth.

Trailing by three in the final quarter of the OAC Championship, the Blue Streaks were aided by two goals in less than 10 seconds from Leous, trimming the deficit to 9-8.

However, that would be as close as the Blue Streaks would come for the remainder of the game. 

The Cardinals ended the game with four unanswered goals to secure themselves the first ever OAC Championship title.

John Carroll was outshot 43-23, and was on the short side of a 17-7 faceoff advantage. Unlike the first meeting between the two, the Blue Streaks kept their turnovers in check as both squads finished in single digits with nine drops apiece.

JCU ends its inaugural season of men's lacrosse with a record of 13-4.