Ohio Wesleyan 3, Denison 1
Senior forward Tyler Bryant (Chillicothe/Unioto) scored to wipe out a 1-0 deficit and senior midfielder Tyler Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) followed with the game-winner as second-ranked Ohio Wesleyan defeated Denison in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship game on Saturday at Roy Rike Field.
The tournament title is the Bishops' eighth in the 11 seasons that the NCAC has sponsored the event. With the win, Ohio Wesleyan receives the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament. Ohio Wesleyan will be making its NCAA-record 33rd Division III playoff appearance. The NCAA tournament bracket will be announced on Monday.
Denison jumped to an early lead when Ryan Torgerson sent the ball into the Ohio Wesleyan penalty area. The ball bounced off a Bishop defender and rattled around in the box before Lenny Mills settled it and drove a shot from the left side into the middle of the Ohio Wesleyan goal at the 2:39 mark.
Ohio Wesleyan evened the game in the 18th minute when junior midfielder Dylan Stone (Easton, Conn./Barlow) sent the ball into the box from the right side. A Denison defender went up to break up the play, but the ball bounced to Bryant, who buried a shot from close range.
The Big Red nearly retook the lead when Jamie Wagner broke open inside the box, but his shot bounced off the crossbar and the ball was headed back to sophomore goalkeeper Paul Hendricks (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) by a Bishop defender in the 30th minute.
Wall gave the Bishops the lead later in the first half, receiving the ball inside the Denison end, getting past a Big Red defender, and blistering a shot from the top of the box into the back of the net with 5:09 left in the period.
Ohio Wesleyan kept up the offensive pressure during the second half, including one flurry midway through the period. The Bishops had earned a corner kick, and Wall sent a header that appeared headed toward the back of the net, but Denison defender Jamie Wagner cleared the ball off the line at the right post. The Bishops got another corner, and senior midfielder Ryan Harmanis (Hilliard/Davidson) sent a header toward the left post, but Big Red defender Bob Casarona cleared that shot off the line, keeping the Big Red within 2-1.
Harmanis would have better luck on his next try, though. Freshman midfielder Matt Shadoan (Dublin/Scioto) centered the ball from the left side, junior forward Travis Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) redirected it near the left post, and Harmanis finished in front to give Ohio Wesleyan a 3-1 lead with 21:49 left in regulation time.
The Ohio Wesleyan defense held the Big Red to 3 shots during the remainder of the game, with Hendricks making 2 saves down the stretch to preserve the lead.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Denison, 22-15. Hendricks finished with 4 saves in the Bishop goal, while Matt Wagner made 6 saves for the Big Red.
Box Score
