GRANVILLE, Ohio – Winners of two of the past three North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament titles, the Denison University men's soccer team aims to continue its recent string of success atop of the conference.
The Big Red have recorded double-digit wins in all three seasons played under the leadership of head coach
Brandon Bianco. Despite the recent success in postseason play and a wealth of returners back for 2024, Bianco knows that the new season brings new challenges.
"Every year is definitely different, but success this year will be measured like it is every year for us. We want to get as much out of the fall as we possibly can in every aspect of what we do," Bianco stated. "To do that, we need to double down on who we are as a program, be well led, have great connection, and be at our best in our biggest moments."
2023 Season In Review: Denison finished the 2023 season with a 12-5-3 overall record and a 4-2-2 mark in conference play. The Big Red put together a 7-2-3 mark on the road.
Denison captured the 2024 NCAC Tournament Championship with a 3-1 win over top seeded Kenyon in the title game. That victory allowed them to advance into the NCAA Tournament for a 12th time in program history.
"As with every season, there are challenges in every match we play, especially in the competitive NCAC," said Bianco. "With playing so many games on the road last fall, we more than ever kept stressing our preparation, focus, and attention to detail as the season went along. I credit the team last year for digging in all year and weathering the ups and downs to be where we wanted to be when November rolled around."
The Big Red fell short in the NCAA First Round, as they dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to seventh-ranked Connecticut College. They were in search of their first NCAA Tournament win since 2006.
Denison opened the 2023 season with four-straight wins and a 6-0-1 mark overall. The Big Red posted three shutouts during the season-opening stretch of success. Highlighting the streak was a 2-1 road win at fourth-ranked John Carroll on Sept. 20.
The Big Red suffered back-to-back defeats to end non-conference play. Denison fell 1-0 at nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve before dropping a 2-1 decision at Otterbein.
Denison went 4-2-2 in conference play to earn the three seed in the conference tournament. The Big Red recorded conference wins over Hiram, Wabash, Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan.
The Big Red used a heading score by
Henri Heyes in the 87th minute to secure a 1-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan in the NCAC Semifinals. Denison used a pair of first half goals to stake claim to a halftime lead in the Championship game versus Kenyon.
Corey Brunner tacked on a goal in the 51st minute to help Denison secure the 3-1 win.
Seven members of the Big Red earned All-NCAC honors. First Team honorees were
Jake Krueger,
Kameron Kist and
Chris Giglio. Kist and Giglio went on to earn Third-Team All-Region from the United Soccer Coaches.
Team Captains: Henri Heyes,
Ben Goeller
2024 NCAC Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted Order of Finish)
| Rank |
School (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
|
|
| 1. |
Kenyon (7) |
79 |
|
|
| 2. |
Denison (1) |
68 |
|
|
| 3. |
Ohio Wesleyan |
65 |
|
|
| T4. |
DePauw |
45 |
|
|
| T4. |
Wabash |
45 |
|
|
| 6. |
Wooster |
35 |
|
|
| 7. |
Wittenberg |
33 |
|
|
| 8. |
Oberlin (1) |
25 |
|
|
| 9. |
Hiram |
10 |
|
|
Position-By-Position Breakdown
Forward:
Jake Krueger leads the way for the returners at forward. Krueger earned All-NCAC First Team honors last season as a junior. He boasted a team-high six goals to go along with five assists in 2023. His 17 points ranked second on the team.
Midfield:
A trio of All-NCAC performers return in the midfield.
Kameron Kist,
Ben Goeller and
Cameron McIntosh all are back in the midfield mix.
Kist finished with a team-high 18 points and a team-best eight assists. Kist also tallied five goals.
Goeller started all 19 games as an important midfield piece to earn All-NCAC honors.
McIntosh finished with 10 points with four goals and two assists. Three of the four goals went for game winners for McIntosh.
Corey Brunner finished with eight points including a score in the NCAC Championship match.
Defense: Henri Heyes picked up Third Team honors after starting all 19 games he appeared in. Heyes helped a Denison defensive unit hold its opponents to less than one goal per game. Heyes also chipped in two goals, which were both game-winning tallies in victories over Grove City and Ohio Wesleyan.
Denison did lose First Team All-NCAC honoree
Chris Giglio to graduation.
However,
Cole Trigg and
Miles Crosser also return with starting experience for the defensive unit. Trigg started all 20 games while Crosser made an immediate impact with 16 appearances (13 starts) as a first-year collegiate player.
Goalkeeper: Tommy Prokos, a Second Team All-NCAC performer last year, is back for his senior season. Prokos compiled a .776 save percentage with 52 saves and a 0.94 goals against average in 17 games (16 starts). Prokos recorded a season-high seven saves in the NCAA First Round match versus Connecticut College. Prokos finished with an 8-5-2 record.
Zach Barr also returns at the position. Barr made six appearances (four starts). He compiled a 4-0-1 record with 10 saves and two goals allowed.
Newcomers: Denison welcomes six new student-athletes into the fold for the 2024 season.
# Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
0
Ronan Kiter Fr. 6-1 188 Cold Spring, N.Y. / Haldane
9
Emmett O'Brien Fr. 6-3 187 Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington
16
Colin MacDonald Fr. 5-10 150 Oakwood, Ohio / Oakwood
25
Kaden Kist Fr. 5-9 150 New Albany, Ohio / New Albany
27
Alex Homuth Fr. 5-10 165 Vilnius, Lithuania / American International
28
Will Fullerton Fr. 6-1 158 Greenwich, Conn. / King School
Coaching Staff: Bianco enters his fifth year (fourth season) as the Head Men's Soccer Coach at Denison University in 2024. He became the program's ninth head coach in the 68-year history of the program on March 18, 2020. He has proceeded to guide the Big Red to double-digit wins in each of his first three full seasons to go along with two North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
The 2024 season marks the second on staff for assistant
Tyler Gallagher.
Ben Woelfinger enters his first season on staff as an assistant coach.
Brandon Morgan will serve as the Director of Operations for the program.
Looking At The Schedule: Denison opens the season with four-straight home games. The Big Red will take on Stevens (Aug. 30), Bethany (Sept. 2), Grove City (Sept. 7) and Capital (Sept. 9) during the opening season slate at Kienzle-Hylbert Stadium.
After back-to-back road matches versus Centre and Transylvania in the state of Kentucky, Denison returns home to face Case Western Reserve on Sept. 21. The Big Red has a pair of matches slated for Family Weekend, as they take on Christopher Newport on Sept. 27 and Otterbein on Sept. 29.
"We definitely try to build our non-league schedule to prepare us for NCAC play," Bianco said. "In addition to Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan, truly any team can beat anyone on any given day. So we've tried to blend our non-league schedule with teams with different styles that present a variety of challenges which will help us when conference play opens."
NCAC play opens with back-to-back home games, as Denison welcomes Hiram on Oct. 5 and Oberlin on Oct. 9.
The Big Red will head to Kenyon on Oct. 12 for a rematch from last year's NCAC Tournament Championship match. Denison then heads to Wabash (Oct. 15) and Wittenberg (Oct. 19) as part of a three-game road stretch.
Denison hosts DePauw on Oct. 23 before traveling to Wooster on Oct. 30. The Big Red concludes the regular season against Ohio Wesleyan on Nov. 2 as part of Big Red weekend.
The NCAC Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 6 and Nov. 9.
The Final Word From Bianco: "Having the group we have returning is definitely something we can lean into. They've seen basically everything college soccer can throw at them, and the older players in particular know they have a responsibility to help bring our young guys along."
