Owls and Big Red to clash again in NCAC final

GAMBIER, Ohio -- For the fourth straight season, including the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign, the Kenyon College men's lacrosse team will travel to Denison University to take on the Big Red in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament's championship game.

The Owls, the No. 3-seeded team in the four-team tournament, have a 13-5 overall record and are riding a five-game win streak. They made it to the final by up-ending No. 2-seed Ohio Wesleyan University in Thursday's wild semifinal game in which they rallied from four goals down in the fourth quarter to pull out a 13-12 victory.

Denison, the tournament's No. 1 seed, also owns a 13-5 record and is ranked just outside the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Top-20 NCAA Division III Coaches' Poll. The Big Red are winners of nine straight contests, including Thursday's 14-4 triumph against The College of Wooster in the other NCAC Tournament semifinal game.

For the most part, the three previous tournament final meetings between these two rivals were close, but Denison came away the winner in each instance. Last season, the Kenyon team raced out to a 10-3 first-half lead, only to be edged by the Big Red, who stormed back in the second half to claim a 14-13 win.

Earlier this year, the two teams met on Denison's home turf in regular-season play and the Big Red notched a 20-10 victory. Sophomore David Chintala was Kenyon's leading scorer with four goals and an assist, but he was overshadowed by a massive game from senior Luke Fisher, who poured in eight goals and tacked on two assists for Denison. Additionally, the Big Red got five goals and three assists from junior Tommy Quinson.

As a team, Kenyon enters the 2024 championship contest with a scoring average of 14.0 goals per game and a goals against average of 10.11 goals per game. On the other side of the field, Denison sports a scoring average of 15.44 goals per contest and a 9.11 goals against average.

Individual statistical leaders for Kenyon include Chintala, Adam Hall, Thomas Nelson and Joe Sikora. Chintala has a team-high 54 goals, matching his total from a season ago. Hall, a sophomore goalkeeper, has 195 saves and a .530 saves percentage. Nelson, a junior, ranks top-five in the NCAA with a .686 face-off win percentage, while Sikora, a senior, leads Kenyon's defensive unit with 23 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls.

Fisher is the man for Denison. A three-time All-America honorable mention, he is the Big Red's career points record holder and has 96 points on 59 goals and 37 assists this season. Quinson backs that up with 69 points on 54 goals and 15 assists. Defensively, senior Brooks Crowley has a team-best 20 caused turnovers and sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Albert has 176 saves and a .542 saves percentage.

The championship game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start Sunday at Denison's Kienzle-Hylbert Stadium. Ticket prices for the final are $7 for adults, $3 for children (18 and under) and students without an NCAC institution ID. Those students with an NCAC institution ID will be admitted free of charge.

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Players Mentioned

#22 David Chintala: A; Sophomore

#35 Adam Hall: G; Sophomore

#28 Thomas Nelson: FO; Junior

#51 Joe Sikora: LSM; Senior

Players Mentioned

#22 David Chintala
: Sophomore
: A

#35 Adam Hall
: Sophomore
: G

#28 Thomas Nelson
: Junior
: FO

#51 Joe Sikora
: Senior
: LSM