DELAWARE, Ohio (November 3, 2021) – The second goal of the season by senior Burke McLaughlin came in the 82nd minute and helped send the third-seeded Denison University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over second-seeded and No. 18 nationally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

Now with a record of 11-4-2 in its first season under the direction of Head Coach Brandon Bianco, Denison secured its berth to the championship match of the NCAC Tournament, set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, at top-seeded and No. 14 Kenyon College (15-1-1). The Lords are coming off an 8-0 win over fourth-seeded Wabash College in the other semifinal match on Wednesday.

"Anytime you're winning games in November, it's big," spoke Coach Bianco. "To do it on the road against a really good Ohio Wesleyan opponent, it means the guys really dug deep. We're proud of the group and we look forward to playing Saturday."

The Big Red were outshot 20-9 overall, but both teams fired five shots on goal while senior goalkeeper Dylan Brown played every minute and finished with five saves.

The Denison offense was led by Luke Mattessich with three shots, all three of which were on goal, McLaughlin with two shots, both of which were on goal, and Ethan Miracle also with two shots.

After OWU had six shot attempts in the first 10 and a half minutes of the match, Mattessich and McLaughlin had a pair of shots saved in the 30th and 31st minutes, respectively, for Denison's first two shots of the night.

Mattessich then had another shot saved in the 38th minute before Brown had to make his second save of the first half to keep it scoreless only 15 seconds before halftime.

Less than 30 seconds before what would be the game-winner off the foot of McLaughlin, OWU's Jaggar Brooker had back-to-back shots blocked away by the Big Red defense, helping to set up the heroics by McLaughlin. Jaggar finished the match with all five of his game-high in shot attempts being blocked by Denison.

Brown then made his final save of the night in the 84th minute, the Denison defense came up with its seventh block of the match in the 87th minute, and then the final shot of the night went wide on a header by OWU in the final 20 seconds.