Skip To Main Content

Kenyon College Athletics

Alem Duratovic
Isoo OBrien
2
Hamilton HAM (8-6-4, 4-4-2)
2
Kenyon KEN (13-3-4, 6-2-0)
Hamilton HAM
(8-6-4, 4-4-2)
2
Final
2
Kenyon KEN
(13-3-4, 6-2-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 OT 3 F
Hamilton HAM 2 0 0 0 0 2
Kenyon KEN 1 1 0 0 0 2

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Duratovic’s return lifts Owls to dramatic triumph

GAMBIER, Ohio -- If Alem Duratovic hadn't already cemented his name in Kenyon College men's soccer history, his performance Saturday at Mavec Field certainly did. The senior returned from injury, scored the game-tying goal and then added a penalty-kick goal to lift the Owls over the Hamilton College Continentals in a dramatic second-round game of the NCAA Division III Championship.

With Kenyon trailing 2-1, Duratovic, who missed more than a month due to injury, came off the sideline with just 16 minutes left in the game. The Kenyon offense responded by cranking up its attack, gaining a couple corners and firing off four shots in a 10-minute spurt.

As Kenyon kept firing, it also watched the final minutes tick off the clock. Duratovic then came through in a big way, netting the equalizer with just 1:44 left in regulation. The play developed on a long free kick from Gerardo Martinez. The kick went into the Hamilton box, where Kenyon goalkeeper Jack Pedreschi was stationed. Pedreschi, using his height advantage, headed the ball to Duratovic, who then laced it through traffic and into the net.

That score was Duratovic's team-best ninth of the season. It also was the 46th of his Kenyon career, solidifying his spot as the fourth-best goal scorer in program history.

The thrilling goal sent the game into overtime, but neither team could put home the game-winner in the extra sessions. Kenyon had a couple of chances, but an attempt from Isaac Cortez missed wide and a free kick from Duratovic sailed high. Hamilton countered with a late chance in the second overtime, but Andrew Adams made a remarkable block on a shot from Troy Miller.

With the 2-2 tie secured, the two teams headed to a penalty-kick shootout to determine who would advance in the national tournament and who would go home.

Hamilton won the coin toss and elected to kick first. The Continentals made both of their first two shots, as did Kenyon. Then, in the third wave of shots, Owen Boukalik, who took over goalkeeping duties in place of Pedreschi, got a finger on Hamilton's next shot and deflected the ball into the right post, where it bounced away.

Duratovic was up next for Kenyon and he buried his kick, giving the Owls a 3-2 edge. Both teams followed with successful kicks in the fourth round, leaving Hamilton in a do-or-die fifth round.

Hamilton tested Boukalik to his right and failed to stump him. Boukalik, a sophomore, dove and saved the shot with both hands to extend Kenyon's season and end Hamilton's.

Back in the first half, before all the late fireworks ignited, Hamilton drew first blood, tallying a goal from Adam Molusis in the game's 17th minute. About six minutes later, Kenyon tied things up on a cross from Hayato Ishii to Lawrence Taylor. The goal was Taylor's third of the season and the assist, right along the goal line, was Ishii's third.  

Before halftime, the Continentals regained the lead with Griffin Weidner scoring in the 40th minute. 

That set the stage for Kenyon's fantastic finish, one that pushed the Owls into the NCAA round of 16 for the eighth time over the last 11 seasons. The Owls will now take their 13-3-4 record and move on to face the winner of tomorrow's second-round game between Connecticut College and Franklin & Marshall College.

Hamilton concluded its season with an 8-6-4 record.
 
Print Friendly Version