Box Score Ohio Wesleyan 4, Denison 1Junior midfielder Brian Schaefer (Chatham, N.J.) scored twice to power the Ohio Wesleyan offense as the 17th-ranked Bishops recorded a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Denison on Wednesday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
The win clinched a share of the NCAC championship for Ohio Wesleyan. The Bishops are 7-0-1 in NCAC competition this season, with Kenyon in second place at 6-1-1. The NCAC title is Ohio Wesleyan's seventh straight, 10th in the last 11 years, and 23rd overall in the 31 seasons of NCAC competition.
Ohio Wesleyan took an early lead when sophomore forward Kyle Baum (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) passed the ball to junior midfielder Lonnie Barnes (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) inside the penalty area, then took a return pass from Barnes and zipped a shot past Denison keeper Blake Schach just over 7 minutes into the contest.
The Bishops made it 2-0 midway through the first half when senior forward Taylor Rieger (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) sent the ball to Schaefer just outside the penalty area. Finding his path to the goal blocked to his left, Schaefer wheeled and fired a shot into the back of the Big Red net.
Denison had a pair of chances to get on the scoreboard, first in the 30th minute when Ryan Fine's shot was saved by senior goalkeeper Colin Beemiller (Pickerington/North), and again in the 40th minute, when Andrew Stewart's header off a Denison restart was snared by Beemiller at the right post.
Senior forward Colton Bloecher (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute, taking a pass from freshman midfielder David Robinett (Cincinnati/Indian Hill) inside the penalty area and sending a shot into the left side of the Big Red goal.
Fine put the Big Red on the scoreboard in the 69th minute, gathering a loose ball and taking a 20-yard shot that bounced off the left post and into the goal.
Schaefer wrapped up the Bishop scoring with a shot from the top of the box in the 86th minute.
"This was a good win," said Bishop head coach Jay Martin. "We played a good first half, but we didn't play well in the second half and I was disappointed with that. (Brian) Schaefer played really well -- he is a hard guy to cover -- and Colton (Bloecher) played well, but I was disappointed in some of our substitutes."
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Denison, 16-8. Beemiller and sophomore Ben Farynowski (Columbus/Grandview Heights) combined for 5 saves. Schach and Jack Thomas combined for 2 saves for Denison.
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