Box Score
PHOTO GALLERY
GAMBIER, Ohio – Tony Amolo and the Lords' offense had a field day with Wittenberg University on Wednesday evening. Kenyon College men's soccer team delivered the Tigers a decisive 6-1 defeat at Mavec Field to gather a full head of steam going into an all-important regular season finale with Oberlin College on Saturday. Amolo scored two goals to lead the Lords, offensively.
Kenyon wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard early, and it was Amolo that led the charge out of the gate. With pure speed, the freshman took a nicely-placed feed from Rei Mitsuyama and raced down the far sideline and created a shot from 18 yards out inside the near-side post.
Wittenberg answered back in the 12th minute when the Kenyon defense allowed a loose ball to rattle around until Patrick Szymczak spun and put a strong boot on the ball, sending it flying under the crossbar and past Sam Clougher.
Tied at one apiece, Amolo got back in the scoring column for a second time by putting on a circus act with the ball out in front of the Wittenberg cage. After taking a pass from the far corner, Amolo gained control and took on Tigers' goalkeeper James Van Artsdalen, one-on-one. Van Artsdalen challenged Amolo and went to his right in an attempt to smother the inevitable shot. However, the fleet footed Amolo drew back to create just enough space and send a laser to the back of the net, regaining a lead that the Lords would not relinquish. His second goal of the game marked Amolo's 10th of the season.
Even more quickly out of the half than Amolo did at the onset of the match, Alistair Flynn scored his sixth goal of the year. Forty-nine seconds into the second half, Flynn took a pass from Amolo and fired it in from inside the top of the box for the Lords' third goal.
Kenyon's fourth score was accomplished when Wittenberg was credited with an own goal in the 51st minute. After a header attempt rattled off the post, Mitsuyama fired a shot in on Van Artsdalen which he initially saved. However, Van Artsdalen fumbled the ball, regained possession, but took it across the goal line with him. Mitsuyama officially scored his first goal of the match and sixth of the season in the 62nd minute to pad the Kenyon score.
Amolo finished with five points on the evening behind two goals and an assist. Mitsuyama was right behind him with three points on a goal and a helper. The duo combined for 10 of the Lords' 28 total shots taken, heavily outgunning the Tigers by 25 shot attempts.
The win helps Kenyon keep pace with Ohio Wesleyan for the top spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings. Seeding for the NCAC Tournament will come down to Saturday's match versus Oberlin College and greatly depend on results from around the league. Kenyon is guaranteed a spot in the tournament, however location and their opponent are yet to be determined. The Lords and Yeomen will square up on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. from Mavec Field.
Watch Tony Amolo's circus-act goal above or click the link.