GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's lacrosse team welcomed The College of Wooster for the Owls' final home game of the season. The Fighting Scots struck early, but the Owls bounced back to prevail in the battle between two teams with top-eight winning percentages in the NCAA Division III.

With the win, Kenyon improved to 12-1 overall and 5-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Meanwhile, Wooster fell to 12-2 and 3-2 in the NCAC. Entering the game, Wooster's .923 winning percentage tied for fourth-best in the nation, while Kenyon's .917 winning percentage ranked right behind them in eighth.

The College of Wooster jumped out to an early edge, scoring three and a half minutes into the game. The visitors doubled their lead two minutes later. Adam Hall and the Owls' defense broke up a Fighting Scots shot, but Wooster's Lane Kellog was in a perfect position to grab the rebound and put in the second-chance shot.

Wooster held all the momentum after their earth onslaught, but Kenyon's defense completely clamped down the rest of the way. After scoring twice in the first five minutes, Hall and the Owls stifled the Scots to hold the visitors to just two more goals.

Kenyon outscored Wooster 7-1 throughout the rest of the first half, and the defense conceded just one second-half score. Hall finished with 12 saves on 16 shots on goal, and the .750 save percentage was his second-highest mark this season. After the Fighting Scots outshot the Owls 15-10 in the opening period, Kenyon flipped the script to outshoot Wooster 33-18 the rest of the way.

The Owls erased their early deficit with back-to-back goals in 51 seconds. A pair of Wooster penalties provided the home team with two man-up chances, and Kenyon converted their extra-man opportunities. Jack Giuffre scored at the midway mark after an assist by David Chintala as Kenyon's leading scorers teamed up to put the home team on the board. The duo connected again less than a minute later when Chintala assisted Giuffre's equalizer.

Giuffre helped Kenyon take their first lead of the game on the first possession of the second quarter. After Thomas Nelson gave the Owls control with a diving faceoff win, Giuffre assisted Gavin Gumucio on a goal that put Kenyon up 3-2. Chintala and Rowan Goldin increased Kenyon's lead to 5-2 before the Fighting Scots scored a man-up goal, but Gumucio and Giuffre scored 20 seconds apart to give the Owls a 7-2 halftime advantage.

The teams traded goals early in the third period, but defense won out as the score remained 8-4 in favor of Kenyon heading into the final frame. The Owls shut out the Scots in the fourth, maintaining possession and allowing just three shots, two of which were saved by Hall. Offensively, the Owls pushed their lead to 12-4 after two goals from Rollins Heath, one from Gumucio, and one from Goldin.

A handful of Owls did all of Kenyon's scoring. Giuffre finished with a game-high six points on three goals and three assists. Gumucio (three goals, one assist) and Chintala (two goals, two assists) were not far behind with four points apiece, while Heath and Goldin each scored twice. Evan Bongers added two assists, while Mike Bazzano dished out one dime.

After defending their home field in the team's final game at The Field at Benson Bowl, Kenyon's regular season is quickly coming to a close. The Owls conclude their campaign with two road outings, the first of which will be at Wabash College (7-6, 1-4 NCAC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 22.