NCAC Tournament Championship Site

GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon men's lacrosse team, playing in its fifth North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament in the last six seasons, will travel to No. 11-ranked Denison University on April 25 for a 7:30 p.m. semifinal matchup at Piper Stadium.
 
This will be the second semifinal contest between the two schools with the Big Red last winning 8-2 in 2013.
 
Kenyon, owner of a 9-5 overall record, gained entry into the NCAC's four-team tournament as the No. 3 seed after notching a 5-3 conference mark. On the other side, Denison, the No. 2seed, finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and 7-1 mark in league play.
 
During the regular season, the Lords ranked fourth in the NCAC in scoring offense averaging 12.64 goals per game. Leading the charge on that front were five players: Josh Galardi, Pierce Kraft, Jonah Florence, Nick Vitale and Emilio Sosa. Each scored at least 20 goals, while Florence and Kraft rank tied for sixth in the NCAC in assists with 1.57 assists per game.  
 
In goal, freshman Nick Connelly saw the most action for the Lords this spring. He played in 12 games with 11 starts, had the eighth-best goals against average mark in the NCAC (13.18) and ranked ninth in saves per game (6.91).
 
The Big Red rank near the top of the league in most categories including first in ground balls per game (3894) and faceoff percentage (65.6). Brooks Davy and Spencer Butler lead the Denison offense having scored 47 and 41 goals, respectively. Additionally, Peter Pitroff's 51 assists lead the conference.
 
Stephen Paras is Denison's go-to goalie. He has played in 12 games with seven starts, and ranks fourth in save percentage (.490) and goals against average (7.89).
 
As mandated by the NCAC, tickets for Wednesday's game cost $7 for adults and $3 for children (18 years of age and under). Any NCAC student with a valid ID from an NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge.           
 
Live video and statistics of the contest can be found here.