Humble beginnings lead to significant finishes.

In a Saturday night meeting, John Carroll University romped Otterbein University, 14-7, to take over second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Blue Streaks move to 8-5, 4-1 in the conference with the win.

The victory held a certain significance for John Carroll, as it had been 0-3 in previous encounters against the Cardinals. All three games, including the 2014 OAC Championship game, had been played at Otterbein. Tonight marked a chance for JCU to solve the Otterbein riddle in the friendly neighborhood of University Heights.

It was a slow start for this highly anticipated OAC meeting. Although both teams supplied high intensity offensive possessions in the opening moments, it would take over nine minutes for the Don Shula Stadium scoreboard to post a crooked number.

The elusive first goal came when Connor Pike harassed Otterbein goaltender James Gundling, forcing a turnover. Pike would quickly find Declan O'Grady in front of the open-net to push home the easy score with 5:10 to play in the first quarter.

John Carroll carried a 1-0 lead into the second quarter. Otterbein would supply resistance. Connor Baak would be the spark plug Otterbein needed to take the lead. Baak evened the game with a tally at 13:08 to play in the first half. Baak would then set up Robbie Guiliano with the go-ahead goal with just over 10 minutes to play in the half.

JCU supplied a nice rebuttal on a long offensive possession when Logan Calhoun powered a shot past Gundling. The tally knotted the score at two with eight minutes to play in the first half.

Baak would step up again for Otterbein with another goal at 6:55 remaining in the half, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead. But the lead was short lived.

The ensuing offensive possession for the Blue Streaks would even the score at three with just over six minutes to play in the first stanza. Collin Riley dodged around two Otterbein defenders, finding Pike crossing in front of the Otterbein crease for the quick score. The hosts would add onto their lead when Riley powered a shot between the pipes to give John Carroll a 4-3 advantage with 3:47 to play before the break.

John Carroll would continue to poor it on when MacGregor Roberts scored into the top corner of the Otterbein cage with just under three minutes to play before half time. The play was nicely set up by a dodge and pinpoint pass from O'Grady, helping JCU to a 5-3 lead.

Otterbein would cut into the two goal lead with a tally from Marcus Willis. The first half of action finished with the Blue Streaks ahead, 5-4. All five of the John Carroll goals came from different players. Otterbein was led Baak who had two goals and one assist in the opening half.

Both squads were relatively equal in the major offensive categories. The hosts had an advantage in the shots, 18-17. There was a seamless transition of offensive production for the Blue Streaks between the halves.

RP Whitty stepped around a screen into some open space when Riley found him cutting through defenders. Whitty took a strong left hand shot that bounded off Gundling into the back of the net. With 13:39 to play in the quarter, JCU led, 4-6.

Less than a minute later, Riley added his second tally to keep the offensive ball rolling. Riley dodged around the crease when Michael Hubert found Riley open for the score. JCU opened up a 4-7 advantage early in the third quarter.

Following an Otterbein score, the Hubert-Pike connection got back on track.

First with 7:12 to play in the quarter, Hubert dodged around two Otterbein defenders to shot passed Gundling. Then with 6:49 to play in the quarter, Hubert found the cutting Pike for another score.

JCU would supply the exclamation point on the quarter with a 4-on-3 transition goal in the final two minutes of the quarter. Hubert scored on the right side of the crease when Riley found Hubert streaking down the side.

Hubert would complete the hat trick when he struck the back of the net with just 17 seconds remaining on the clock. John Carroll would take an 11-5 lead into the final quarter. Otterbein was held to just one goal in the third quarter. Riley would get in on the hat trick action with his third tally in wit 12:43 to play in the final quarter, making it 12-5 in favor of the Blue Streaks. The shot was originally blocked by Gundling, but rolled into the net following a home field advantage roll.

Whitty then joined the hat trick crowd when he added his third goal with 7:36 to play in the game. The man up goal made it 13-6 in favor of the Blue Streaks. John Carroll would cruise through the rest of the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

The final horn secured the John Carroll victory at 14-7. The Hubert-Pike connection represented the offensive pipeline for JCU. Hubert and Pike had a combined 10 points in the game. JCU also had three different players register a hat trick on the night.

Carl Roman was a man in form between the pipes for the Blue Streaks. He registered a nine saves on the night, which included a shut out in the first quarter and just one goal allowed in the third quarter.

JCU won the shots battle, 38-31. The hosts also held the upper hand in ground balls with 32 to the Otterbein 24. The win pushed the Blue Streaks ahead of the Cardinals in the conference standings. JCU moves to 4-1 in the OAC and Otterbein drops to 3-2 in the conference.

JCU has another major conference opponent visiting Don Shula Stadium on Wednesday, April 27. The current first place team from Baldwin Wallace University will make the crosstown trip for a meeting with John Carroll. Face off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.