Box Score DELAWARE, Ohio – The Kenyon College Lords' defense answered the call once again Thursday night at Ohio Wesleyan University. The unit held the No. 19-ranked Battling Bishops scoreless for 110 minutes of soccer in the men's semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament. Although the Kenyon defense did earn a scoreless tie, the Bishops were able to advance to the tournament final after edging the Lords, 3-2, in a penalty kick shootout.

Kenyon (9-6-3) entered the game with a 0.59 goals against average, the 15th-best average in the nation. Throughout Thursday's game, the defense did everything it could to back up that lofty mark. Ohio Wesleyan (13-2-4) ended up with 23 total shots, but only four of those were on goal and saved by Kenyon senior goalkeeper James Smith.

At the other end of the field the story was nearly the same, although the Lords attacked with greater accuracy. Kenyon uncorked 18 shots with eight of them being on goal and steered aside by Bishops' keeper Paul Hendricks.

Back-and-forth it went. Ninety minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime solved nothing, so the teams entered the shootout to decide who would advance to the tournament final. In the shootout, the first shots by both teams were saved by Smith and Hendricks. Kenyon sophomore Alex Christoff then fired in the first goal of the game, launching his shot into the right side of the net. Ohio Wesleyan countered with a goal from Matt Shadoan and the shootout was knotted 1-1 after two rounds.

Hendricks stopped Kenyon's next penalty kick and Brian Schaefer snuck one in off the hands of Smith to give the Bishops a 2-1 advantage. In the fourth round, Cameron Scott chipped one in for the Lords, while Kit North answered for Ohio Wesleyan. That left Kenyon in a must-make situation in the fifth round of kicks. Unfortunately for the Lords, that crucial shot sailed over the crossbar and brought an end to what was a record-breaking 2012 season.

Smith finished out his final year with a 0.45 goals against average to set the new standard for Kenyon keepers. His 11 shutouts were just one shy of the single-season mark set by Andy Kingston during the 1994 season. The team's final goals against average was 0.50, which was the second best mark in the program's history.

On the offensive front, senior J.J. Jemison concluded his final season of play with team-highs of seven goals, three assists, and 17 points. His career total of 20 goals ranks 12th-best in Kenyon history.