Ohio Wesleyan 2, Allegheny 0

Senior midfielder Tyler Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) scored twice to lift second-ranked Ohio Wesleyan over Allegheny in a semifinal matchup of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday at Roy Rike Field.

Ohio Wesleyan, the tournament's top seed, will host the NCAC tournament title game at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Roy Rike Field. The Bishops will face third-seeded Denison, a 2-1 winner over Kenyon in Wednesday's other semifinal contest, with the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament on the line.

Wall staked the Bishops to an early lead after Ohio Wesleyan had a restart in the Allegheny end, and Wall's drive hit the upper left corner of the Gator net at the 14:05 mark.

Tyler Wall and junior forward Travis Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) each had a look at the Allegheny goal later in the first half, but Gator keeper John Lichina was there for the save each time.

Allegheny had a chance to tie the game late in the period when the Gators sent the ball into the Ohio Wesleyan penalty area, where D.J. Egan headed the ball on goal only to see sophomore Paul Hendricks (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) make the save.

Ohio Wesleyan increased its lead to 2-0 early in the second half when senior back Eric Laipple (Westerville/South) centered the ball from the right side. The ball bounced through the box to freshman forward Jon Stegner (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) on the left side, and Stegner sent the ball back into the middle, where Wall redirected it home in the 52nd minute.

Lichina made a couple of difficult saves in keeping the score 2-0, stopping a shot by junior midfielder Dylan Stone (Easton, Conn./Barlow) and then a follow shot from Tyler Wall in the 59th minute.

Ohio Wesleyan outshot Allegheny, 30-9. Hendricks finished with 5 saves in the Ohio Wesleyan goal. Lichina stopped 8 shots in the Gator goal.

Box Score