Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 0, DePauw 0
DePauw outscored 19th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan on penalty kicks, 4-2, after the teams played to a scoreless tie in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship game on Saturday at Roy Rike Field.
DePauw receives the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament scheduled to begin next week, while the Bishops must wait until Monday's selection show to learn their NCAA tournament fate.
Ohio Wesleyan enjoyed the edge in offensive play during the majority of regulation time.
Sophomore midfielder Colton Bloecher (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) had a pair of header shots during the period, first in the 14th minute when DePauw keeper Tony Halterman punched away his header off a corner kick, and again in the 32nd minute, when Bloecher's header skipped across the goal mouth and wide left.
Halterman made another stop late in the period, going high to punch a shot by junior midfielder Ian O'Keefe (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) over the crossbar.
In the 56th minute, it was Halterman again, grabbing a header by senior back Kit North (Powell//Bishop Watterson) off a restart to preserve the scoreless deadlock.
DePauw nearly took the lead in the 57th minute when Nick Williams sent a high, arching shot from 35 yards out, but senior goalkeeper Paul Hendricks (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) made a fine play to bat the ball away at the upper right corner of the Bishop goal.
Hendricks made the only saves during the overtime periods, grabbing a shot off Dean Weaver's bicycle kick in the box during the 99th minute, and saving a shot by Adrian Ables in the 105th minute.
As was the case in Thursday's tournament semifinal, it then turned to penalty kicks, this time with the conference's automatic qualifier on the line.
The Tigers took the lead when Andy Morrison sent his kick into the lower left corner and Halterman saved the kick of junior midfielder Taylor Rieger (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange).
Ohio Wesleyan answered with a Hendricks save and a successful kick by junior midfielder Matt Shadoan (Dublin/Scioto), evening the score at 1.
DePauw retook the lead when Ables scored into the lower right corner, and freshman midfielder Brian Schaefer (Chatham, N.J.) saw his kick glance off the cross bar.
George Elliott and North traded successful kicks, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Andrew Desmarais then stepped to the spot, and his kick into the top left corner gave DePauw the 4-2 nod in the shootout.
"It's very disappointing," said Bishop head coach Jay Martin. "I thought our team played very, very well, well enough to win. From the back to the midfield to the top, we had a good game. Paolo (Bucci) had his best game of the year. Clearly, the last two games we've had trouble scoring -- 50 shots and no goals."
Ohio Wesleyan outshot DePauw, 27-12. Hendricks made 6 saves in the Ohio Wesleyan goal. The shutout was his 10th of the season, moving his career total to 36 to move him into second place on the Bishop career list. Halterman finished with 6 saves for DePauw.
Box Score
