GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 1, 2022) – The 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament has been set, and for the second year in a row, Denison University will enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed and will travel to take on second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University. The Big Red and the Battling Bishops will meet up this time around starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex in Delaware, Ohio.

Denison finished the regular season 10-4-3 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play in its second full season under the direction of head Coach Brandon Bianco. This is also the second straight 10-win season for the Big Red, their first time reaching double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons since 2009 and 2010.

Additionally, for the second year in a row, Denison's only defeats in conference action this season came against top-seeded Kenyon College and second-place Ohio Wesleyan. This year, the Owls blanked the Big Red 3-0 in Gambier, Ohio, on October 19 before Denison came up short 1-0 at home against the Battling Bishops during their very next match (Oct. 22) after the game-winning goal by OWU's Jaggar Brooker in the 83rd minute. Ohio Wesleyan finished its regular season 8-4-4 overall and 6-0-2 in the NCAC, and have not loss since a 2-0 defeat at John Carroll University all the way back on September 17. The Bishops are also the only team this season to take a point off of Kenyon after battling the Owls to a 0-0 tie on October 4.

In 2021, the Big Red started off its NCAC Tournament run with a 1-0 win at OWU before defeating Kenyon by the same score of 1-0 during the championship. 2022 will be the 12th NCAC Tournament appearance for the Big Red while OWU is making its 21st NCAC tournament appearance with its last tournament championship coming in 2017.

Senior Ethan Miracle is the leading goal scorer for Denison this season as he has netted 12 goals, 26 points and four game-winning goals, which is good for a tie for the lead in all three categories in the NCAC. Meanwhile, junior Rohan Tripathy has added six goals while sophomore Cameron McIntosh has accumulated five goals and five assists. Fellow-sophomore Jake Krueger finished tied for second in the NCAC with six assists, is second with 48 shots, and is fifth with 21 shots on goal.

Leading a terrific Denison defense this season has been senior Pierre de la Croix-Vaubois along with freshmen standout Henri Heyes, who has started in all 17 matches as a rookie. Senior Luke Mattessich and junior Chris Giglio have also helped provide depth on the backend for a Big Red defense that has posted seven shutouts this season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Tommy Prokos have stepped into his starting role this season with confidence and poise after playing just under 20 minutes as a freshman. For far this season, Prokos has amassed 63 saves to go along with a .808 save percentage and a 0.97 goals-against average. He ranks third in the NCAC in total saves and is fourth in goals-against average.

In the other NCAC semifinal, Kenyon will be the top seed and will welcome Wabash College, for the second straight year, on Tuesday, November 1, at 2 p.m. The championship match will be held at the highest remaining seed after the semifinals on Saturday, November 5.

Seeds and Schedule:
#1 Kenyon (22 pts., 7-0-1)
#2 Ohio Wesleyan (20 pts., 6-0-2)
#3 Denison (16 pts., 5-2-1)
#4 Wabash (15 pts., 5-3)

The tournament will open with semifinal games on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 1-2, with the championship game slated for Saturday, November 5, at the site of the highest remaining seed to emerge from the semifinals.

Semifinal Game - Tuesday, November 1
#4 Wabash at #1 Kenyon, 2:00 p.m.

Semifinal Game - Wednesday, November 2
#3 Denison at #2 Ohio Wesleyan, 7:00 p.m.

Championship Game - Saturday, November 5
Winners of semifinal games at highest remaining seed, TBA

Kenyon (7-0-1) earned its seventh consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championship after finishing the regular season with 22 points. Ohio Wesleyan leads the league with 23 conference titles overall, followed by Kenyon (13), Wooster (3), Denison (2) and Wittenberg (1).

Ohio Wesleyan (6-0-2, 20 pts.) finished second in the conference standings, followed by Denison (5-2-1, 16 pts.), Wabash (5-3-0, 15 pts.), Wittenberg (3-5-0, 9 pts.) and Wooster (2-3-3, 9 pts.), Oberlin (1-4-3, 6 pts.), DePauw (1-5-2, 5 pts.) and Hiram (0-8-0, 0 pts.).

As NCAC champs, the Owls enter the NCAC Tournament as the top seed and will host fourth-seeded Wabash on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 2:00 p.m. Kenyon defeated the Little Giants 1-0 on the road during the regular season on Oct. 8. Second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan will host third-seeded Denison in the other semifinal match at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. The Battling Bishops claimed a 1-0 regular season victory over the Big Red in Granville on Oct. 22.

The championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 5, at the site of the highest remaining seed to emerge from the semifinal round.

Tourney Notes: The tournament winner receives the NCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament ... Kenyon, making its 15th overall appearance in the field of four, currently owns the longest active streak of 10-straight appearances and will enter postseason play with five conference tournament titles ... Ohio Wesleyan returns to the NCAC postseason for the 21st time with a league-high 10 titles ... Denison, the defending tournament champion, will make its 12th appearance overall. The Big Red maneuvered through the 2021 tournament bracket as the No. 3 seed and knocked off No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan, 1-0, in the semifinals and No. 1 Kenyon, 1-0, in the championship final … Wabash is returning to the tournament for the seventh-time in program history after making its debut in 2013 … Ohio Wesleyan leads all programs with 10 tournament titles, followed by Kenyon with five, Denison with three and DePauw with two tourney titles.

Media Coverage: To follow the action this postseason, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://denisonbigred.com/coverage

Additional Links:
NCAC Tournament Page
NCAC Ticket Policy