Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 0, Kenyon 0
Senior goalkeeper Paul Hendricks (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) made 8 saves in posting his ninth shutout of the season, then stopped 2 more shots in a penalty-kick shootout to help Ohio Wesleyan advance after a scoreless tie with Kenyon in a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament semifinal matchup against Kenyon on Thursday at Roy Rike Field.
Ohio Wesleyan will host DePauw, a 3-2 winner over Hiram on Thursday, in the NCAC tournament championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Roy Rike Field. The winner of that game will receive the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament scheduled to begin next week.
Both teams had a few chances during the first half. Ohio Wesleyan's best look came midway through the half, when junior midfielder Matt Shadoan (Dublin/Scioto) fired a hard shot from the left side that went over the outstretched fingers of Kenyon keeper James Smith and skimmed the top of the crossbar.
Smith stopped a header from senior back Kit North (Powell//Bishop Watterson) off a restart in the 44th minute, and sophomore midfielder Colton Bloecher (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) fielded a centering pass from freshman midfielder Gunnar Bloecher (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) but saw Smith corral his redirect attempt with 1:01 left in the half.
Kenyon, meanwhile, put all 3 of its shots on goal during the period, all coming on restarts from at least 22 yards away.
The Bishops had a pair of good looks in the second half, first in the 82nd minute when freshman midfielder Brian Schaefer (Chatham, N.J.) broke open after taking a through ball from junior midfielder Taylor Rieger (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) only to see Smith come out and break up the play.
In the closing seconds of regulation time, a yellow card on Kenyon's Lewis Williams-Gray gave Ohio Wesleyan a restart about 25 yards out from the Lord goal with :06 on the clock. Shadoan sent the ball toward the left post, but North was not able to get enough of the ball to redirect it inside the post, and the game went into overtime.
Hendricks and Smith each made a save during the first overtime period, and neither team yielded a shot on goal during the second extra session.
It then turned to penalty kicks to determine which team would advance to Saturday's final.
Hendricks and Smith traded saves on the opening round, with Hendricks stopping Jeremiah Barnes and Smith making the save on Rieger's kick.
Kenyon's Alex Christoff and Shadoan followed with successful kicks.
Hendricks then gave the Bishops a chance to take the lead with a save on Rei Mitsuyama, and Schaefer followed with a kick off the hands of Smith to put Ohio Wesleyan ahead, 2-1.
Cameron Scott kept the Lords alive with a successful kick, but North answered in kind to give the Bishops a 3-2 lead.
Andrew Parmelee stepped to the spot for Kenyon needing a successful kick to continue the shootout, but his kick went over the crossbar.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Kenyon, 23-18. Hendricks collected 8 saves in the Ohio Wesleyan goal. The shutout was his ninth of the season, moving his career total to 35 to tie for second place on the Bishop career list. Smith recorded 4 saves for Kenyon.
Box Score
