Owls draw OWU in NCAC semifinal clash

11/2/2026 4:30:00 PM

GAMBIER, Ohio -- For the first time since the 2023 season, the Kenyon College field hockey team qualified for the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament, a four-team event that determines which team earns an automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Tournament.

Kenyon will enter the 2026 conference tournament as the No. 3 seed and will travel to Ohio Wesleyan University on Wednesday to face the host and No. 2-seeded Battling Bishops. That semifinal showdown at Selby Stadium is slated for a 4 p.m. start. The other tournament semifinal has No. 1-seeded Denison University hosting No. 4-seeded DePauw University on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The winners of the two semifinal games will meet in Saturday's tournament final at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The Owls enter postseason play with an 8-8 overall record and a 7-3 conference record. Their opponent, the Battling Bishops, finished off the regular season with a 14-4 overall record and an 8-2 conference mark. During the 2026 regular season, the two teams met at Ohio Wesleyan on October 7 with Kenyon emerging as a 3-0 winner. It was the Owls' first win against Ohio Wesleyan since the 2021 season-opening game.

Overall, the series has been fairly even between the two teams. Since first meeting in the 1973 season, the teams have tangled 97 times with Ohio Wesleyan holding a slight 49-45-9 record over Kenyon.

Kenyon's last three NCAC Tournament appearances all started with a semifinal game against Ohio Wesleyan. In 2019, Kenyon was victorious in overtime, 2-1. In 2021 and 2023, Ohio Wesleyan posted wins of 1-0 and 6-0, respectively.

Ohio Wesleyan took more shots (401) and scored more goals (78) than any other team in the conference this season. The Battling Bishops are currently riding a five-game win streak in which they outscored their opponents, 25-2. Defensively, they allow just 1.33 goals per game, the second-best mark in the conference.

The Kenyon defense enters Wednesday's game with a 1.78 goals against average, the fourth-best mark in the NCAC. The Owls, who are on a three-game win streak, average 2.06 goals per game on the offensive end. That average is tied for fifth-best in the conference.

When the two teams met in October, Ohio Wesleyan outshot Kenyon, 16-8, but had no goals to show for it and suffered just its second shutout of the season. Senior Maren Lawrence got the Owls on the board in the first quarter and sophomore Hendrika Maher tacked on two third-quarter goals in the Kenyon win. Junior goalkeeper Sofia Chaves made six saves for the Owls.

As mandated by the conference office, semifinal tickets are $10 for general admission. Children (five and under) will be admitted free of charge, as will college students who can present a valid ID from an NCAC institution.

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