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Kenyon College Athletics

2023 Kenyon Men's Soccer
Sejin Kim

Men's Soccer

Owls to host Big Red in NCAC Tournament finale

GAMBIER, Ohio – After Wednesday's action-packed semifinal matches, the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) men's soccer tournament final is set. The Kenyon College Owls will host the Denison University Big Red on Saturday at noon. 

The Owls (15-3) enter the conference's final match as the No. 1 seed and are a perfect 9-0 against NCAC opponents this season, most recently defeating the No. 4 seed DePauw University Tigers, 3-1, in the semifinal round. That puts Kenyon back in the tournament final for the 10th straight season.

No. 3-seeded Denison (11-4-3) triumphed over the No. 2 seed Ohio Wesleyan University in Wednesday's other semifinal. The Big Red came out on top, 1-0, by way of a goal in the 87th minute. That win sends Denison back to the tournament final for the first time since 2021.

Both Kenyon and Denison lost to Ohio Wesleyan in last year's NCAC Tournament. The Big Red were defeated 3-0 in the semifinal and then Kenyon dropped the final, 2-1, to the Battling Bishops.

The last time Kenyon and Denison met in the NCAC Tournament Final was in 2021, when the Big Red orchestrated an upset of the Owls in a close 1-0 match.

The most recent matchup, however, took place during the 2023 regular-season slate. In that contest, held October 7 at Denison, the Owls got the best of the Big Red as Joey Martens scored a first-half goal to give Kenyon the 1-0 road win. That result made the Owls winners in 11 of their last 12 meetings against the Big Red, with the lone loss coming in that 2021 NCAC Tournament Final. 

That result also pulled Kenyon a bit closer to Denison in the all-time series between the two teams. Since their first meeting in 1952, the Big Red hold a slight 36-32-10 advantage over the Owls.

Kenyon comes in with a league-high scoring margin of 1.5 goals, outscoring opponents 45-18 on the year. The Owls offense also leads the NCAC with an average of 2.5 goals per game and is comfortably the league leader in points with 117. Among the conference's individual leaders, the Kenyon duo of Eamon Dujakovich and Alem Duratovic rank first and second, respectively, with 25 and 22 points.

Denison's defense leads the conference in goals allowed per game, at 0.72, and has only given up 13 goals this season. Offensively, the Big Red sit fifth in the NCAC with an average of 1.61 goals per contest and 79 points. Their top scorer is Jake Krueger, who has six goals and 17 points.

Despite winning eight straight NCAC regular-season titles, including this year, the Owls are looking to capture their first NCAC Tournament title since 2019.

As mandated by the NCAC, tickets for Saturday's final game at Mavec Field 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.
 
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Players Mentioned

Eamon Dujakovich

#18 Eamon Dujakovich

M
5' 9"
Sophomore
Alem Duratovic

#21 Alem Duratovic

M
6' 0"
Sophomore
Joey Martens

#13 Joey Martens

F
6' 0"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Eamon Dujakovich

#18 Eamon Dujakovich

5' 9"
Sophomore
M
Alem Duratovic

#21 Alem Duratovic

6' 0"
Sophomore
M
Joey Martens

#13 Joey Martens

6' 0"
Sophomore
F