GAMBIER, Ohio -- Since the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rolled out its men's soccer postseason tournament format in 2000, teams from Kenyon College and Ohio Wesleyan University combined to win 15 of 22 championship games.

That trend will hold steady this season, as the Owls host the Battling Bishops in the NCAC Tournament finale, which will take place at Mavec Field on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. The winner of the game earns the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Denison University tripped up Kenyon in last year's conference final. Prior to that, however, Kenyon won five of six tournament trophies.

Saturday's clash will mark the seventh time Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan meet in the NCAC Tournament final. Kenyon owns a 4-1-1 mark in the previous six meetings. 

The Owls, ranked as the No. 3 team in two separate national polls, own the conference tournament's top seed, based on their first-place 7-0-1 NCAC record. Overall, the Owls will enter the championship game with a 16-0-1 record. To reach the championship, the Kenyon men defeated No. 4-seeded Wabash College, 4-0, in the semifinal round, which took place Tuesday.

Unranked Ohio Wesleyan claimed the tournament's No. 2 seed with a 6-0-2 regular-season conference record. Overall, the Battling Bishops are 9-4-4. They knocked off No. 3-seeded Denison, 3-0, in their tournament semifinal round on Wednesday.

Earlier this season, playing on Ohio Wesleyan's home turf, the Owls and Battling Bishops played to a scoreless tie. Dating back to the 2015 season, Kenyon is unbeaten in its last 11 contests against Ohio Wesleyan. The Owls are 7-0-4 in that span, with one of those ties occurring in the 2017 tournament final, an event Ohio Wesleyan advanced from based on the result of a penalty-kick shootout. The Battling Bishops' last victory against Kenyon was in the third round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament.

With the next showdown right around the corner, Kenyon enters as conference leader in shots (353), corner kicks (123), goals for (61), goals against (7) and both scoring offense (3.59) and scoring defense (0.41). In the national scope, Kenyon ranks second among all NCAA Division III teams in goal differential, second in scoring offense, third in points per game, third in shutout percentage and sixth in team goals against average.

While Kenyon shows plenty of balance, Ohio Wesleyan leans toward defensive effort. The Battling Bishops rank eighth in the conference in scoring average (1.41), but rank second in scoring defense (0.53). Since losing to John Carroll University on September 17, Ohio Wesleyan has allowed just one goal in its last 11 games. The Battling Bishops are tied for 16th place nationally with a shutout percentage of .588.

As mandated by the NCAC, tickets for Saturday's championship final are $7 for adults and $3 for children (18 years of age and under). Any NCAC student with a valid ID from their NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge.