Wooster's NCAC Winning Streak Snapped by Kenyon, 15-8

Matching program history and staying in control of its own destiny within the North Coast Athletic Conference East Division wasn't in Tuesday afternoon's calling cards for The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team, which suffered its first conference setback of the season, 15-8, at Kenyon College's Field at Benson Bowl.

Wooster (4-2, 4-1 NCAC East Division) would've been able to clinch the division and a spot in the NCAC Championship game outright with two wins this week, and a win on Tuesday would've matched the 2017 team's best start to league play at 5-0. Wooster will have a chance to split the conference series with Kenyon (2-0, 1-0 NCAC East Division) on Saturday, when the Lords visit John P. Papp Stadium for a 2 p.m. contest. In that game, Wooster will also be a search of a program-tying fifth conference win, with the 2016, 2017, and 2019 teams sharing the program record for most NCAC wins in a season.

Sophomore Ryan You, the hero from Saturday's 11-10 overtime win at Allegheny College, scored the Fighting Scots' first goal of the contest at the 12:16 mark of the opening period before back-to-back Lords' goals by Joe Boesel and Declan Curry staked Kenyon to a lead it didn't relinquish. First-year Vinny DiLeo set up a Ted Wells goal in the second period, with the senior pulling the Scots within 3-2, and later, senior Connor Mangan's 14th score of the year pulled Wooster within 4-3. Kenyon responded with a 5-0 run that bled into the third period before first-year Ben Byars netted a pair of scores to make it 9-5.

Powered by Boesel and Weston Powell, Kenyon scored five straight goals to start the fourth period to put the game out of reach, with Finn Murray capping the run by extending the Lords' lead to 15-6 with 6:16 remaining.

The very chippy game featured a combined 17 penalties, and both teams capitalized on extra-player opportunities, with six of Wooster's eight goals coming with a player advantage. Kenyon went 3-for-5 on extra-player opportunities.

Byars' three goals led the Scots. First-year Jimmy Fisher's five groundballs led the team, with classmate Paul Chandler adding three. Sophomore Adam Meyer turned aside nine Kenyon shots.

Boesel's five goals led all players, as did Reed Russell's six groundballs. Russell took charge in the faceoff department, winning 18-of-24 on the afternoon. David Metzger, who leads the NCAC in save percentage, factored heavily into the outcome with 16 saves.

Wooster kept up with Kenyon in shots, where the Lords held a slight 46-42 edge. The big difference came on faceoffs, with Kenyon going 19-of-25 on the day. The Lords doubled up the Scots with 36 groundballs to Wooster's 18.