DELAWARE, Ohio – The Kenyon College men's lacrosse team faced off against Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday night amongst the elements for the team's first road North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) contest of the season.
David Chintala got the scoring started for Kenyon, netting a goal at 10:56 in the first after a relatively slow start. Two Ohio Wesleyan goals at 9:15 and 8:27 gave the home team a brief 2-1 lead, but two goals from Alex Haag and Harrison Curtiss restored the advantage for the Owls. A Bishops goal late in the first quarter knotted the game at three after 15 minutes.
Due to a non-releasable penalty in the final moments of the first, Kenyon started the second quarter a man-down, which proved to be costly, as the Bishops rattled in three straight goals to take a 6-3 advantage at 12:56 in the second. Hagg netted his second of the day at 12:30 to stop the run.
Ohio Wesleyan restored its three goal advantage at 8:40, but Henry Powell scored his second goal of the season less than a minute later to set the score 5-7 Bishops. After Tanner Lewis notched a goal to pull within one at 5:47, OWU again responded to set a 6-8 score at 5:25, a lead which would stand at halftime.
Coming out of the break, Kenyon wasted little time igniting its offense. Haag struck first in the third quarter, finishing off a feed from Harrison Curtiss at 12:53 to trim the deficit to one. Less than three minutes later, Haag found the back of the net again, evening the contest at 8-8. Ohio Wesleyan briefly reclaimed the lead on a man-up opportunity, but Haag answered once more at 7:14, completing a dominant stretch for the sophomore midfielder and tying the game for the third time in the quarter.
The momentum fully swung toward the Owls soon after. Chintala sparked a scoring surge midway through the period, burying a goal at 6:38 to give Kenyon its first lead since early in the opening quarter. He added another less than a minute later to extend the margin to two. Curtiss then capped the run with a goal of his own at 5:01, pushing Kenyon ahead 12-9 and completing a four-goal burst that flipped the momentum of the contest. Ohio Wesleyan managed to halt the surge with a goal from Trey Weber, but Kenyon carried a 12-10 lead into the final quarter after outscoring the Bishops 6-2 in the third.
The Bishops mounted a push early in the fourth, scoring twice to pull even at 12-12 with 7:12 remaining. Kenyon responded almost immediately, as Chintala forced a turnover and converted on the ensuing possession to restore the Owls' lead with 6:17 left on the clock.
Moments later, Curtiss set up Mike Kapral for a goal at 5:33, giving Kenyon a two-goal cushion. Kapral struck again in the final two minutes, finishing a pass from Jack Laganza to make it 15-12 and provide the Owls with valuable breathing room down the stretch.
Ohio Wesleyan managed one late goal in the closing seconds, but Kenyon's defense held firm to secure the 15-13 conference victory at Selby Stadium.
Haag led the Kenyon attack with five goals on 14 shots, notching a career-high with five goals in single game while Chintala followed closely behind with four goals of his own, bringing his goal total to 38 goals in 11 games. Kapral and Curtiss each added two goals, with Curtiss also contributing a pair of assists for a four-point evening. Lewis and Powell each chipped in a goal to round out the Owls' scoring.
Defensively, Owen Breen caused four turnovers and scooped up three ground balls, while Jack Laganza led the squad with six ground balls and added an assist. Faceoff specialist Will Jordan secured 11 wins at the X and collected four ground balls. In goal, Adam Hall recorded seven saves across the full 60 minutes, pushing his save percentage to .569 on the season.
Kenyon finished the contest with a 49-39 edge in shots and forced 28 Ohio Wesleyan turnovers in the win.
KC will return to Gambier and take on John Carroll University on Wednesday, April 8 at 4:00 p.m.
