Skip To Main Content

Kenyon College Athletics

0
Kenyon KEN (7-2-8, 3-1-3)
0
Denison DEN (8-2-6, 4-0-3)
Kenyon KEN
(7-2-8, 3-1-3)
0
Final
0
Denison DEN
(8-2-6, 4-0-3)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 OT 3 F
Kenyon KEN 0 0 0 0 0 0
Denison DEN 0 0 0 0 0 0
Emily Copeland
Erica Grube

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Denison uses penalty kicks to slip past Kenyon

GRANVILLE, Ohio -- The Kenyon College and Denison University women's soccer teams played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer in Wednesday's semifinal game of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. After the scoreless draw, the teams went to a penalty-kick shootout, which the host Big Red won, 3-1.

The shootout win advanced the Big Red, the tournament's No. 2 seed, into Saturday's final, in which they will host No. 4-seeded John Carroll University. For Kenyon, the tournament's No. 3 seed, the tie and shootout loss brought an end to its 2026 campaign.

The Owls (7-2-8) had both of their first two penalty kicks saved by Denison goalkeeper Caroline Hauge. Meanwhile, Kenyon goalkeeper Ariel Kite saved Denison's first attempt, but could not stop the second. Sophomore Rafaela Plasa then scored for Kenyon, but two more makes for the Big Red and one more miss from Kenyon brought the contest to a conclusion.

During the regular season, these two teams battled to a scoreless draw in Gambier and Wednesday's semifinal game turned out to be more of the same. As the defenses dominated, the offenses struggled to find any sort of threatening shots.

Late in the first half, however, Kenyon first-year Maia Pasco found a way to create some room on the left side of the field. In the 36th minute, she broke away and ripped a crossing pass to Skylar Helms inside the box. Helms then headed the ball to Mia Voutsinas, but she was caught in an awkward position in front of the net and barely got a touch on the ball.

Less than two minutes later, Pasco broke free again on the left side. This time she charged the net herself and fired a left-footed shot that was saved by Hauge.

The second set of 45 minutes wasn't much different than the first, although the Big Red showed more of an offensive push. Kenyon got the first shot off, but Denison answered with three of its own. With about 25 minutes left, Denison's leading scorer Lucy Perkins uncorked a shot from the top of the box, but it was stopped by Kite.

The Big Red (8-2-6) had the better shot total in the second half, but nearly everyone was off target, or fired right at Kite, who went the duration and chalked up six saves.

Shortly after Perkins' shot, Kenyon had, perhaps, its best chance of the game, as Voutsinas broke free up the middle and blasted a shot from just outside the box. While it was struck well, it ended up whistling over the crossbar.

After regulation expired, the first overtime saw Denison fire off a good chance, but two minutes later, Kenyon retaliated with two great opportunities, including another left-footed boot from Pasco that was saved by Hauge, who totaled seven stops for the game.

There was not much in the way of scoring chances in the second overtime, as both teams were cautious, setting the stage for the shootout.

In all, Kenyon edged Denison 18-16 in shots and 4-3 in corner kicks.
 
Print Friendly Version

Scoring Summary

Related Headlines