GAMBIER – Kenyon College kept rolling and stayed perfect, improving to 9-0-0 overall and 1-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 3-1 win at home over the College of Wooster.
The Owls kept the pressure on Wooster’s half of the pitch early, but it was a ball on Kenyon’s half of the field that led to the game’s first goal. After helping to thwart an aggressive push from the Fighting Scots, Kenyon’s Aidan Burns, a junior defender, lofted a ball over the whole of the Wooster defense. Sam Carson, a speedy senior forward, sprinted past everyone but the Wooster goalie, gained control of the ball in the Wooster box and sending a shot into the back of the net at the 10:41 mark to put the Owls ahead 1-0.
Wooster tied it when Langston Hood corralled an errant Owls pass and launched a shot from outside the box into the net to knot the game at 1-1 in the 27th minute.
The Owls pushed hard two minutes later, taking two shots and earning a corner kick. Atli Hrafnkelsson, a senior forward, accounted for one of the shots, just missing his mark after hitting the crossbar. However, the near-make was a good omen as Kenyon’s next shot a few seconds later resulted in a goal. Senior defender Zach Grumbach collected a ball in Wooster territory and passed across the goal to sophomore midfielder Eamon Dujakovich, who notched his second score of the season to give the Owls a 2-1 lead at the 29:30 mark.
Through 45 minutes, Kenyon outshot Wooster 13-2, including an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. The Owls also earned seven corner kicks while allowing the Fighting Scots to attempt just one.
The Owls held onto their two-goal lead despite Wooster’s best efforts, as the Fighting Scots took five shots from the 83rd to 89th minutes. Kenyon defenders blocked two attempts, Pedreschi saved two tries, and one attempt bounced off the right post. For the game, Kenyon finished with a 20-11 edge in shots while holding an 11-6 advantage in both shots on goal and corner kicks.
Up next, the Owls headed to Delaware, Ohio, for a mid-week NCAC matchup against Ohio Wesleyan University (3-4-2, 1-0 NCAC). The match was scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
