Box Score Ohio Wesleyan 13, Wooster 6Junior attacker Marcus Dietz (Westerville/St. Francis DeSales) and sophomore midfielder Derek Todd (Edina, Minn.) had 2 goals apiece as third-ranked Ohio Wesleyan built a 6-0 halftime lead and went on to defeat Wooster in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday in Wooster.
The win moved Ohio Wesleyan's NCAC record to 8-0, clinching the conference championship. The title is Ohio Wesleyan's first since the 2011 season, when the Bishops shared the conference championship with Denison and Wittenberg; is the Bishops' first outright NCAC championship since 2007; and is Ohio Wesleyan's 19th title in the 31 seasons of NCAC competition.
The win also raised Ohio Wesleyan's overall record to 14-0, marking the first time in school history that the Battling Bishops have completed the regular season undefeated. Ohio Wesleyan completed the 1983 regular season with one loss, and matched that during the 1985, 1988, 1993, and 1998 seasons.
Ohio Wesleyan will be the No. 1 seed in the NCAC tournament and will host an NCAC tournament semifinal contest at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The full NCAC tournament bracket will be released on Monday evening.
Dietz put the Bishops on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal at the 9:40 mark of the first quarter.
Less than a minute later, senior attacker Tommy Minkler (Oakton, Va./Landon School) rang up a man-down goal courtesy of a feed from junior defenseman John Griffin (Oceanside, N.Y./Northfield Mt. Hermon (Mass.)).
Todd added a goal with 4:09 left in the first period, and Dietz tacked on a score in the final minute of the quarter to increase the Bishop lead to 4-0.
Minkler found Todd for a goal less than a minute into the second quarter, and senior attacker John Umbach (Montclair, N.J.) added a goal midway through the period for a 6-0 Ohio Wesleyan lead.
Minkler struck again to open the third-period scoring, and senior midfielder Brendan Bouchard (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) made it 8-0 with a man-up goal with 9:16 left in the third quarter.
Pat Henderson put Wooster on the board with a goal at the 4:50 mark of the third quarter.
Freshman midfielder Luke Leyden (Northfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) answered with a goal with 3:23 left in the period, and sophomore midfielder Matt Maier (Summit, N.J.) and Minkler scored goals just 6 seconds apart during the final minute of the period to increase the margin to 11-1 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dietz led the Bishops with 3 goals and 2 assists, Minkler finished with 3 goals and an assist, and Todd scored 2 goals. Senior Ryan McMahon (Springfield, Va./The Bullis School) had 6 saves during the first 50 minutes in the Ohio Wesleyan goal, and sophomore Ben Rigger (Decatur, Ga.) made 5 saves during the final 10 minutes.
Henderson had 2 goals and an assist for Wooster. Ben Grombala made 14 saves for the Fighting Scots.
Box Score
