GRANVILLE, Ohio – Overpowered at Denison University one week ago, the Kenyon College men's lacrosse team gave the No. 11-ranked Big Red all they could handle in Wednesday's semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament. The Lords' valiant effort fell short, however, and the Big Red escaped Deeds Field with a 14-6 victory.
Denison put 25 goals on the Lords in their regular-season game, but an energized Kenyon defense bounced back to hold the Big Red under their scoring average for the season. Nevertheless, the Lords' season concluded with a 9-6 record, while the Big Red improved to 14-3 and now move on to the conference championship game to face Ohio Wesleyan University, a 21-6 winner over DePauw University in the NCAC's other semifinal.
Early in the game, it looked like Denison might run away with it again, scoring four of the first five goals to take a 4-1 lead into the second quarter. Peter Pittroff netted two of those four Denison goals, while Kenyon's first tally came from freshman Matt Pollack.
Denison tacked on two more to start the second quarter, but Kenyon neutralized them with scores from freshman Will Robbins and senior Pierce Kraft. The teams then traded goals until halftime and the Big Red got to the break with a 9-5 lead.
The second half was all about lock-down defense. Denison, which averaged just 7.50 goals against per game this season, held the Lords to a single second-half goal and that came from senior Jonah Florence, who pulled the Lords within three at 9-6 just a minute-and-a-half into the third quarter.
Kenyon rode out that momentum and applied pressure on both ends of the field, but the Lords offense couldn't crack though again. Meanwhile, Denison went on to score the final five goals of the game to secure the victory.
Pittroff proved to be the difference, as he posted game-highs of three goals, six assists and nine points. Brooks Davy also had three goals for the Big Red, while Spencer Butler and Josiah Wilson both tossed in two.
Kraft and Robbins were Kenyon's offensive leaders, with three points apiece. Kraft tallied his on a goal and two assist, while Robbins had two goals and one assist. Pollack, Florence and Sam Humphrey added one goal each.
Team stats were close throughout the game, with the exception of face-offs. Denison posted a huge 19-5 advantage in that category. That wide margin also went a long way in the Big Red's 36-20 upper hand in the groundballs department.
Kraft, Florence and Josh Galardi were all integral parts of the Kenyon offense this season and they concluded their collegiate careers with similar numbers. Kraft finished his run with 66 goals and 57 assists, Florence had 55 goals and 63 assists, and Galardi had 76 goals and 49 assists.
