DELAWARE, Ohio (November 1, 2023) – For the third year in a row, the third-seeded Denison University men's soccer team took on second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University on the road in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, and for the second time in three years, the Big Red shut out the Battling Bishops to punch their ticket to the NCAC Tournament Championship. This time around, it took a game-winning goal in the last four minutes by Henri Heyes as Denison came out on top by a final score of 1-0 on Wednesday night at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.

It was the second-straight shutout for Denison (11-4-3 overall) against OWU (12-5-1) in the last week after it took a 2-0 win for the Big Red over the Battling Bishops on Saturday to clinch the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament and a return trip to Delaware. With back-to-back wins over their rivals, it marks only the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2002 and 2003 that the Big Red have won consecutive matches against the Battling Bishops. It is also the first time in program history that Denison has beaten Ohio Wesleyan twice in one season.

Denison outshot OWU 9-4 overall in the first half while the only two shots on goal from either team came from Denison's Miles Crosser on a header in the first four and a half minutes and from Michael Sullivan in the final five minutes.

Those would be the only shots on goal of the match until the game-winner by Heyes, who was able to score on a beautiful header off a corner kick by Kameron Kist in the 87th minute.

With short time remaining on the clock and the score still 0-0, the Big Red found themselves in scoring position with less than four minutes to go. Kist set up for the corner on the far side of the field with Heyes waiting nearside. With the ball in the air, Heyes moved through the mass of players for the ball. Dodging his defender, Heyes jumped a head higher than the rest and connected on the ball sending it flying just below the crossbar and into the back of the net.

The lone goal of the match pushed Denison ahead of Ohio Wesleyan and onto the NCAC Championship match.

In all, Denison led the match 6-1 on corner kicks, but it was the final one that made the difference.

"Tonight was a great semifinal," spoke Denison's Head Coach Brandon Bianco. "Ohio Wesleyan is a really good team and we had to be really good on the night to get the result. I'm so proud of the guys for continuing to dig in and finding the late goal. We look forward to playing in a final on Saturday."

It was the second dramatic win for the Big Red over the Battling Bishops in the last three years in the NCAC semifinals after it was Burke McLaughlin who scored the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute in 2021.

Sullivan and Jake Krueger led the Big Red with two shots apiece in the first half before Krueger finished with a match-high three shot attempts.

With the win on Wednesday, Denison secured its berth to the championship match of the NCAC Tournament, set for 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 4, at top-seeded Kenyon College (15-3). The Owls are coming off a 3-1 win over fourth-seeded DePauw University in the other semifinal match and defeated the Big Red 1-0 on a goal in the 20th minute by Joey Martens during the regular season.