DELAWARE, Ohio – Trailing by just one goal at halftime of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament semifinal game, the Kenyon College Lords lacrosse team pushed doubt into the minds of the Ohio Wesleyan University faithful. The host Battling Bishops, however, outscored Kenyon 4-1 during second-half action and won Wednesday night's defensive-minded battle, 8-4.

Ohio Wesleyan, ranked No. 15 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's national poll, needed third-quarter goals from Max Tennant and Marcus Dietz to open up a 4-3 halftime lead and create some breathing room. The OWU defense also chipped in by keeping Kenyon scoreless in the quarter.

With 11:22 showing on the fourth-quarter clock, Kenyon jumped right back into the thick of things. A Pierce Kraft pass to the right side found an open man in Emilio Sosa, who quickly buried his shot into the OWU goal from about eight yards out.

A little more than two minutes later, Kenyon (11-4) had the opportunity to trim the Battling Bishops' lead back down to one after OWU was called for a cross check and was handed a one-minute non-releasable penalty. The Lords uncorked a decent shot on goal while playing a man up, but it was saved and controlled by OWU goalkeeper Ben Rigger, who had ten saves on the day.

The Battling Bishops burned off the rest of the penalty and didn't give up possession until there was under five minutes to play in the game. At that point, Kenyon launched another three shots at the OWU goal. Two went wide and the other was saved.

Ohio Wesleyan (13-3) marched the other way and all but sealed the deal with a close-range goal from Tennant. That pushed the score to 7-4. The Battling Bishops won the ensuing face-off and got one more goal from Tennant before the final horn sounded.

Tennant, a freshman who leads all NCAC players with 56 goals, scored four goals Wednesday night. Dietz added two goals and an assist for Ohio Wesleyan, which moves on to play in the NCAC tournament finale Saturday at Denison University.

Sosa, who also scored Kenyon's first goal of the game during a man-up opportunity in the second quarter, finished with two goals. Chris Ferraro and Robert Jacobs tacked on the Lords' other two tallies in the second quarter.

Senior goalie Patrick Shevelson directed a valiant Kenyon defensive effort and also made 16 saves, giving him 185 on the season and 623 for career, a four-year mark that ranks fourth-best in Kenyon lacrosse history.