GAMBIER, Ohio (November 4, 2023) – For the second time in three years, the Denison University men's soccer team defeated Kenyon College in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship match, this time winning by a final score of 3-1 over the No. 17 nationally-ranked Owls to bring home its fourth NCAC Tournament title in program history.

Now with a record of 12-4-3 overall, the Big Red earn the NCAC's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III National Tournament while on the other side, it was the end of a 10-match winning streak for Kenyon, which falls to 15-4 overall.

Denison scored on all three of its shots in the match, scoring first as a cross by Kameron Kist to Cameron McIntosh resulted in a deflection goal off a Kenyon defender.

The Big Red then added a goal by Jack Rice in the 38th minute as a long pass into the box was not contained by Kenyon's goalkeeper, Jack Pedreschi, allowing Rice to tap it in to make it 2-0.

That seemed to wake up the Owls, who responded with a header goal on a free kick just over two minutes later to make it 2-1 at halftime.

Denison was outshot 9-2 in the first half and 6-1 in the second but would not be deterred as a pass by McIntosh went into the box to Corey Brunner, who was able beat Pedreschi and find pay dirt with a goal on the first shot of the second half (51st minute) by either team to cap off the scoring.

From there, Tommy Prokos added a pair of saves in the 74th and 83rd minutes and finished with four saves for the match.

"Going into today, I was so happy our players earned the right to play in a final," said Denison's Head Coach Brandon Bianco. "Now, I'm incredibly proud that we're champions. This group has dug in all year and we're playing our best at the right time of the season. A huge thank you to our alumni, parents, coaching staff, and administration for contributing to today's victory. We'll enjoy today and get ready for NCAA's."

After dishing out an assist in each match of the conference tournament, Kist was named the NCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by defender Chris Giglio, forward Jake Krueger, McIntosh and Prokos. Krueger led the Big Red with three shots against Ohio Wesleyan University while Prokos was a combined 2-0 with four saves, a .50 goals-against average and a .800 save percentage on the week while finishing with a 1-0 shutout against the Battling Bishops in the semifinals.

The NCAA will announce the field for this year's tournament at 2 p.m. on Monday, November 6, on NCAA.com.