GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 7, 2022) – The Denison University men's lacrosse team outscored Kenyon College 8-0 in the second half to capture the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship by a final score of 12-5. Winners of 10 straight games, Denison receives the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

In addition to being a battle between two 14-win teams who are both receiving votes in the latest USILA / Dynamic 2022 Men's Coaches Division III Poll, it was also a matchup that featured the best offensive in the conference, Denison, against the best defense, Kenyon, with an automatic bid to the national tournament on the line.

The Lords entered the day yielding just 115 goals this season for an average of 6.76 goals allowed per game, which ranks second among all NCAA Division III teams, while the Big Red offense had scored 293 goals for an average of 16.28 goals per game (28th in NCAA Division III).

The Kenyon defense held Denison to just one goal in the first quarter, which was a score by Jack Chace assisted by Ethan Tyack for the first goal of the game over five minutes in.

Down 3-1 entering the second quarter, Denison tied it at 4-4 on a goal by Tyack with 1:27 left before halftime, but another goal by the Lords with only 17 seconds on the clock made it a 5-4 Kenyon lead at the intermission.

Then in the second half, it was the Big Red defense that made its presence felt, limiting Kenyon to only 10 total shots while goalkeeper Archer Darrach made six of his 11 saves over the final 30 minutes.

Just under five minutes into the third quarter, Quinn O'Donnell netted his second goal of the game on the second assist by Tyack to tie the game at 5-5.

Denison then closed out the third quarter strong as Camden Bowdy scored his first goal of the game with 2:31 left to give Denison its first lead since it was 1-0, and then one minute later, Luke Fisher put the Big Red up by a two-goal margin.

After a goal by Jack Hines assisted by Clyde Bresnahan three minutes into the fourth quarter to make it 8-5, Denison put to bed any chance of a comeback attempt as Bowdy assisted on three of Denison's final four goals while scoring another as well.

In the end, Bowdy finished with two goals and three assists while Fisher, Will Kenney and O'Donnell both scored twice as well. Tyack finished with one goal but added three assists.

Owen O'Neill played great and led the Big Red with seven groundballs while Bowdy also added three groundballs and two caused turnovers.

Davis Cronin was 9-for-13 in faceoffs while Colin MacLean was 5-for-7.

After finishing with two wins and a combined 21 saves with only 14 goals allowed in two games, Darrach was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Also earning a nod to the all-tournament team for Denison was Bowdy (6 goals, 4 assists), Tyack (5 goals, 5 assists), Cronin (25-35 on faceoffs, 13 groundballs) and O'Neill (8 groundballs).

The championship game also featured two teams with eight or more wins in a row as Denison improved to 15-4 overall, earned its 10th straight win, improved to 10-0 at home on the year, and saw its winning streak against Kenyon (14-4) improve to 19 straight games since 2006. The Lords, meanwhile, who had not lost since a 16-7 defeat to the Big Red on April 2 and earned the most wins in a single season in program history, saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end.

With the win, Denison advances to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 26th time in program history. The NCAA will announce the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship field on Sunday, May 8, at 9 p.m. with a live selection show airing on NCAA.com. The NCAA Tournament opens with the first round on Wednesday, May 11, followed by the next two rounds on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15.

For more information on the 2022 NCAA DIII men's lacrosse tournament selections and tournament dates, please click HERE.