GAMBIER, Ohio (November 6, 2021) – With its second straight 1-0 victory in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, this time over No. 14 Kenyon College in the championship match, the Denison University men's soccer team brought home its third NCAC Tournament title in program history and its first since 2009.

Denison's Head Men's Soccer Coach Brandon Bianco spoke after the match, saying, "When you get to be a coach, you have days that don't happen very often that remind you how lucky you are. Today was one of those days. I'm so happy for our team to get this experience. We're worthy champions and it wouldn't have happened without the belief and ambition of the players. On behalf of our program, a huge thank you to our assistant coaches, athletic training staff, admins and support staff, sports information, alumni, parents, and the Denison community for all their support in making today possible. We will enjoy this and look forward to playing next weekend."

Only 21 minutes into the match, freshman Cameron McIntosh stepped up and scored the sixth goal of his rookie campaign on a misplay by the Kenyon goalkeeper.  

Denison was outshot 22-8 overall and only had two corner kicks compared to 11 for Kenyon, but the Lords had only one extra opportunity on shots on goal (6-5) while Denison's Dylan Brown finished the match with five saves, his third shoutout in a row and his ninth shutout of the season overall.

Brown made four of his saves in the final 30 minutes of the match, including back-to-back saves in the 75th and 77th minutes as Kenyon fired 15 shots in the second half.

Leading the Big Red in shots was McIntosh and Ethan Miracle with two apiece.

"Dylan Brown played his tail off," added Bianco. "He made tough saves look routine. Pierre de la Croix-Vaubois and Harrison Netburn in front of him did a great job winning ariel balls. The entire team played their hearts out."

In the postgame awards ceremony, Pierre de la Croix-Vaubois, Burke McLaughlin, Lorenz Hoover, Jake Krueger and Brown were all named to the NCAC All-Tournament team while Brown was also selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. McLaughlin had the game-winning goal for Denison in the 82nd minute over No. 18 Ohio Wesleyan University in the semifinals while Brown finished with two shoutouts and 10 total saves (five in each match) across the tournament.

Now with a record of 12-4-2 overall and the NCAC's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III National Tournament under its belt, Denison is also currently 3-1-1 this season against top-25 nationally-ranked teams in NCAA Division III while the 12 wins so far this year are the most Denison men's soccer has had since 2009 when it had last won the NCAC Tournament Championship.

For Kenyon (15-2-1 overall), it was the end of a 15-match winning streak that featured 10 wins of two goals or more and nine shutouts. In addition to earning its first win over Kenyon since 2011, the win for Denison marked the end of the Lords' run of three straight NCAC Tournament titles.

The NCAA will announce the field for this year's tournament on Monday, November 8, on NCAA.com. The NCAA tournament opens with the first round Friday, November 12, through Sunday, November 14.

For more information on the 2021 NCAA DIII men's soccer tournament selections and tournament dates, please click HERE.