Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 2, Denison 1
Freshman midfielder Hector Gomez (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) had a hand in both goals as Ohio Wesleyan built a 2-0 lead, and the Bishops went on to defeat Denison in a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament semifinal matchup on Wednesday at Selby Stadium.
Ohio Wesleyan advances to the NCAC tournament championship game to face top-seeded Kenyon at 1 p.m on Saturday in Gambier. Kenyon advanced to the championship game with a 1-0, double overtime win over Wabash on Wednesday.
Gomez had the first chance of the game when he whistled a shot just over the crossbar just under 2 minutes into the action.
In the ninth minute, Gomez split a pair of Denison defenders with a pass that freed freshman forward Dom Calabrese (Beavercreek) for a break at the Denison goal, and Calabrese slipped a shot inside the right post to give the Bishops the lead.
Denison's Leo Herard had a look at the Ohio Wesleyan goal in the 19th minute, but junior goalkeeper J.P. Baughman (Westerville/Columbus St. Francis DeSales) made the save.
Just over a minute later, Gomez made a run from the right side toward the center of the field, cut back, and fired a shot that found the back of the net to increase the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 2-0.
Big Red keeper Dylan Brown made a fine play to stop a drive by sophomore midfielder Matt Yingling (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) in the 42nd minute. Brown also corralled shots by senior back Jack Shadoan (Dublin/Scioto) and sophomore midfielder Drew Wivell (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) during the closing minutes of the half.
Denison threatened during the 45th minute, stringing a couple of passes together and freeing Herard for a run at the goal, but Baughman came out to the top of the penalty area and broke up the play.
Baughman made a similar play in the 64th minute after Braden Adamson won the ball in the Bishop defensive end and made a run.
It appeared that Denison had pulled within 2-1 in the 77th minute when Herard fired a shot into traffic and Adrian Miller scored on the rebound, but Miller was ruled offside on the play.
The Big Red got on the scoreboard shortly after that when Eric Buer headed home a Matt Rush corner kick with 12:03 left in regulation time.
Baughman came up with saves on shots by Ryan Albers and Miller in the 89th minute to protect the lead, and the Bishops closed out the win.
"We started out great, but I think when we got up, 2-0, we kind of took our foot off the gas. We were still in control of the game until they scored, and then were on our heels the final few minutes. It was a good win, and tournament wins are always good, and now we're looking forward to Kenyon on Saturday."
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Denison, 25-10. Baughman made 3 saves for Ohio Wesleyan. Brown recorded 6 saves in the Denison goal.
Box Score
