The No. 15-ranked Kenyon College men’s soccer team stayed undefeated in conference play, winning its 11th match in a row, as it defeated the College of Wooster 3-0 at home Tuesday night. With the win, the Lords remain atop the North Coast Athletic Conference standings.
The first half of action started out as a possession battle between the Lords and Scots, with Kenyon in control 68 percent of the time. After gaining possession outside of the attacking third, Kenyon's Johan Johannsson passed the ball to Luke Muther. Muther led his defender down toward the end line, where he passed the ball across the face of the goal. Sam Carson timed his run perfectly to meet the ball and put a sliding finish on the goal. After 45 minutes, the stats for both teams were nearly identical with the exception of Carson’s goal and Kenyon's possession advantage.
After halftime, the Lords retained their advantage in time of possession. In the 55th minute, Aidan Burns sent a shot into the box. Wooster goalkeeper Jason Prather jumped up to grab the ball but lost his balance on the way down. The ball looked to cross the goal line as Prather was on the ground, but the officials ruled it a no-goal. A minute later, Kenyon continued to pressure the Scot’s back line when Gerardo Martinez placed a perfect through ball to Mac Nardiello-Smith. Nardiello-Smith looked to cross but Wooster’s Caleb King slid into the midfielder. King received a yellow card for his challenge, and Kenyon received a penalty kick. Scott Upton stepped up to take the kick and buried it to give the Lords a two-goal lead. After a Wooster goal kick went straight to Kenyon, the Lords pushed numbers forward once again. Sam Carson’s pass ended up on the foot of Scott Upton. While faking out his defender, the senior forward moved toward the end line when he passed to Sebastian Gaese. Gaese flicked the ball with the back of his foot past Prather for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.
Kenyon remains at home to host Hiram College today, for their final home match of the 2021 season. Before the match, the Lords plan to recognize the team’s seniors as part of Senior Day activities
