WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's lacrosse team weathered some nasty weather in Westerville to collect a 14-5 victory over the Otterbein University Cardinals (0-3). With the win, the Owls improve to 3-0 to continue their strong start to the season.

Kenyon could not have asked for a much better start to the game. After Thomas Nelson controlled the opening face-off, the Owls needed just 45 seconds to take a 1-0 lead thanks to Colin McCarthy. Things would only get better just 10 seconds later when Nelson won the ensuing face-off and assisted David Chintala, Kenyon's leading scorer, on a goal that put the Owls ahead 2-0 through 55 seconds of action.

Otterbein answered at the 12:51 mark to continue the early scoring frenzy, but the offense came to a screeching halt after that. The Cardinals turned the ball over six times and managed just one shot the rest of the way, but Kenyon could not capitalize as the Owls missed 11 of their next 12 attempts after starting 2-2.

McCarthy made his mark again with 3:42 on the clock, putting Kenyon up 3-1 off of an assist by Rollins Heath. The two-goal lead persisted through the first quarter, but the game had to be put on pause between the periods. 

A lengthy lightning delay of about an hour threatened to interrupt Kenyon's early momentum, but the Owls quickly got back on track as Evan Bongers increased the advantage to 4-1 on Kenyon's second shot of the period. 

The on-field advantage flipped in Otterbein's favor after a penalty put the Cardinals up a man at the 5:56 mark. The home team made the most of the opportunity with an extra man goal 52 seconds later, cutting Kenyon's lead to 4-2 before halftime.

The Cardinals looked to maintain their momentum after winning the opening face-off of the second half, breaking Nelson's stretch of eight straight to open the game. However, Kenyon locked in and defended three shots before thwarting another extra-man opportunity.

The Owls opened up offensively shortly thereafter, as Chase MacCartee and Heath added two points to Kenyon's lead. The scores came just 36 seconds apart, and Jack Giuffre assisted on both to extend his team-best assist total. 

Kenyon poured it on with three goals in under two minutes, opening up a 10-3 lead. Despite looking like the Owls had complete control, two Kenyon turnovers helped Otterbein cut the lead by two in a 16-second spurt before the start of the fourth quarter.

Just like the first three quarters, the Owls set the tone by scoring the first goal of the period. Mike Kapral finished a nice offensive possession after an assist by Heath, making it an 11-5 game with 11:44 to play. Kenyon dominated the rest of the way, outshooting Otterbein 14-2 and not conceding a Cardinals shot until the 2:20 mark. Chintala scored the game's final three goals, finishing with five for the second time in three outings, to clinch the 14-5 victory. 

Kenyon finished with 51 shots while allowing just 22 and held a 31-8 edge in shots on goal. Nelson won 19 of 20 face-offs for the second straight game, improving to an immaculate 62-64 (96.9%) on the season. The face-off specialist also corralled a game-high 17 ground balls.

The Owls and their 3-0 record are headed to Colorado for Kenyon's next two contests. The Owls will take on Haverford College (1-2) on Tuesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. before facing Colorado College (0-3) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8. Both times are local Mountain Standard Time, and Colorado College will host both matchups in Colorado Springs.