GAMBIER, Ohio -- For the third straight season, the Kenyon College and Ohio Wesleyan University men's lacrosse teams will battle it out in the semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament. After OWU traveled to Gambier last year, the No. 3-seeded Owls will head to Delaware, Ohio, on Thursday for a 7 p.m. bout against the No. 2-seeded Battling Bishops.

Kenyon claimed the tournament's third seed after going 6-2 in conference contests. Overall, the Owls enter the game with a 12-5 record. Ohio Wesleyan's seeding was not finalized until the final game of the regular season, and the Battling Bishops settled for the second seed after falling to Denison University in the defacto regular-season conference championship game, a contest both teams came into with a 7-0 league mark. Overall, OWU posted an 11-4 (7-1 NCAC) record this season.

The Owls ousted the Battling Bishops in last season's NCAC Tournament semifinal game, winning 12-10 on their home turf. Ohio Wesleyan, however, was the victor in the teams' most recent matchup, winning 14-9 at OWU's Shelby Stadium on April 13. Kenyon started strong with the game's first two goals, but the home team answered by scoring 10 of the next 12 goals. The Owls battled back and pulled within three on two occasions in the second half, but the Battling Bishops held on for the win. First-year Miles Malawer found the mark twice to lead Kenyon's eight goal scorers, while Ohio Wesleyan's Garrett Smith (5) and Spencer Amacher (4) shouldered the scoring for the winning side.

Before last month, Kenyon had won three of the previous four matchups against Ohio Wesleyan, including two straight wins for Kenyon in NCAC Tournament semifinal matchups. Last year's postseason meeting saw the Owls open with six straight goals before the Bishops battled back to tie, and Kenyon clinched the win with a 4-2 fourth-quarter edge. David Chintala and Chase MacCartee each scored three goals in the game, but Kenyon is without the services of Jack Giuffre, who poured in three goals and two assists as a senior. 

Statistically, the Battling Bishops lead the NCAC with a plus-6.2 goal differential, while the Owls rank third at plus-4.1. Kenyon's offense has produced the NCAC's second-most goals this season at 239 and ranks second in scoring average at 14.06, and the Owls defense ranks in the middle of the pack at 10.00 goals allowed per game. On the other side, OWU hangs its hat on the defensive end, where the team's 113 goals allowed and 7.53 average are the lowest in the league by a significant margin. Offensively, OWU's 13.73 goals per game rank third behind Kenyon. 

Individual team leaders for the Owls include Chintala, who leads the team and is tied for fourth in the conference with 3.00 goals per game after tying for second in the league with 51 total goals. The sophomore's 3.88 points per game rank seventh amongst conference competitors, just ahead of OWU's Wade Beckstrom (3.87), who is tied for ninth in the league and leads the Bishops with 2.60 goals per game. 

In the cage, Ohio Wesleyan's Nathan George ranks second in the NCAC with an 8.31 goals against average, a mark that moves to first amongst players with more than 10 games played. His .557 save percentage also ranks second in the league. For Kenyon, Adam Hall's .526 save percentage is the sixth-best mark in the league and his 10.25 goals against average ranks seventh.

The face-off circle could help swing the game in Kenyon's favor, as Thomas Nelson has won a league-leading 254 face-offs this season, posting the NCAC's second-highest winning percentage (.698). The junior's 177 ground balls and 10.41 ground balls per game also pace the conference field. Noah Citek has made the most appearances for OWU at midfield, posting a .570 face-off winning percentage with 176 wins.

The other NCAC Tournament semifinal matchup features Denison, the No. 1 seed, and The College of Wooster, the No. 4 seed. The winners of the two semifinal games will face each other on Sunday, May 5, and the highest remaining seed will host the NCAC Tournament Championship game. The Owls are hunting for their first NCAC Tournament Crown, while OWU is after the program's third overall and first since 2015. Denison, the reigning champs after completing a comeback win over the Owls in last season's finale, are going for an eighth straight and ninth overall tournament title.