Dan Otanicar

By Tim Glon

| Box Score |

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Dan Otanicar scored a goal and assisted on another in a 39 second span of the second half, leading the Ohio Northern men's soccer team to a season-opening 6-0 victory at Anderson (Ind.) Tuesday afternoon at the AU Soccer Field.

The Polar Bears are now 1-0, while the Ravens fall to 0-3.

With ONU leading 1-0 in the 56th minute, Otanicar scored unassisted when he out-hustled an AU player for a free ball, then drove in from the right side and finished at the 55:56 mark.

Just 39 second later, he beat an AU defender on the left side and drilled a nifty cross to Christian Huelsman for a point-blank goal and a 3-0 lead with 56:33 gone in the match.

"Those were two hustle plays that were key plays in the match," ONU head coach Brent Ridenour said. "Those two goals seemed to break their spirit. We were a little rusty early on, but came back with a strong second half."

Huelsman scored his second goal of the match at the 58:44 mark off an assist from Chaz McCullah and is was 4-0 Polar Bears.

Northern would add its fourth goal in a 4:34 span when Nate Bascom assisted Cory Dobkins on a goal with 29:30 left in the match.

McCullah capped the scoring with a goal off an assist from Adam Ross with five minutes to play.

Bascom scored the first half's only goal on a penalty kick with 35:40 gone in the match.

Aaron Collins, the 2006 Ohio Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, was back in goal after missing the 2007 season and was solid, posting the shutout.

"Aaron played well," Ridenour said. "It was good to see him in goal. Were very glad to have him back."

Ohio Northern out-shot Anderson by a wide margin on the day, including a 16-0 advantage in the first half.

The Polar Bears will now head to the West Coast this weekend for a pair of matches against Los Angeles area schools.

On Saturday, Northern will face Redlands (Calif.) at 7 pm EDT and on Sunday, ONU will face California Lutheran at 4 pm EDT.