GAMBIER, Ohio -- Friday at Mavec Field, the Kenyon College Owls will test their skills against the Greenville University Panthers in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament. The game is slated for an 11 a.m. start.

Kenyon earned hosting duties after putting together a regular season that included a 15-0-1 record. The Owls won their North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal, but were defeated in the final to bring their current record to 16-1-1.

After holding down the No. 3 spot in national rankings for multiple weeks, Kenyon trickled down to No. 5 in the latest D3soccer.com poll. The United Soccer Coaches halted polls at the conclusion of the regular-season, so the Owls still remain No. 3 in that organization's rank.

Unranked Greenville makes the trip to Kenyon from Illinois. The Panthers went 9-3-5 during the regular season and then won both the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament semifinal and final to bring their record to 11-3-5. The SLIAC tournament win gave the Panthers automatic entry into the national tournament.

Kenyon, making its 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its ninth straight, earned one of 21 at-large bids in the tournament field of 64.

The Owls will enter NCAA play with an offense that averages 3.44 goals per game, the second-best scoring mark in NCAA Division III. On the other side of the field, the Owls own a team .500 goals against average, the 10th-best mark in Division III. Kenyon also ranks top-10 nationally in goal differential (+53), points per game (9.28), shots per game (20.44) and shutout percentage (.667).

The Owls have won eight straight NCAA first round games, including last year's 4-1 victory over Catholic University.

Greenville is a team that has won seven straight games and is undefeated in its last 10. They have a 5-1-2 record at home and a 6-2-3 mark on the road. The Panthers average 1.95 goals per game, while averaging 17.2 shots per game. Defensively, they own a team 1.21 goals against average to go along with eight shutouts.

While Greenville and Kenyon have never squared off on the soccer pitch, they do share one common opponent this year. On September 9, Kenyon defeated Spalding University 8-2. Spalding is a member of the SLIAC and played Greenville twice this season. On September 17, the teams tied, 3-3. On October 29, Greenville won, 2-0.

The appearance in the NCAA Tournament will be Greenville's fifth. The Panthers' previous four all occurred since 2008 and all resulted in first-round losses.  

The winner of Friday's game will move on to play Saturday at 1 p.m., also at Mavec Field. That game will be against the winner of Saturday's other first-round game between Carnegie Mellon University and Calvin University.