Owls topple Tigers in a two-day triumph

GAMBIER, Ohio – On Wednesday, April 17, the Kenyon College men’s lacrosse team hosted Wittenberg University from The Field at Benson Bowl for a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) matchup. After play was stopped in the middle of the second quarter due to storms, play resumed this afternoon for the final two and a half quarters of action. 

The Owls held a 6-3 lead when play was suspended at about the seven-minute mark in the second and never surrendered it for the completion of the game, topping the Tigers 17-15 this afternoon. 

Kenyon (9-5, 3-2 NCAC) was red-hot to start Wednesday’s play, racking up five straight goals to start the contest. During the run, David Chintala had notched his 40th, 41st, and 42nd goals of the season for the early hat trick. Tanner Lewis and Mike Kapral chipped in to build the lead, while Wittenberg netted one goal with just under a minute to play in the quarter to put the home team ahead 5-1 after one. 

The Tigers scored two straight to open the second, but Gavin Gumucio’s man-up goal stopped the spree and put the Owls up 6-3 with 7:50 to play in the half. After Gumucio’s goal, play was suspended due to severe storms in Gambier. After a night’s rest, the two teams were back at it at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon. 

Wittenberg scored three of five goals after play resumed, while Chintala and Jack McCarren added two for Kenyon to enter the half with an 8-6 lead.

The second half was by far the higher-scoring half, as the two squads combined for 18 goals in the final 30 minutes. In the third, the Tigers opened with two straight goals, but four different scorers for the Owls went on to net four out of the next six, as McCarren, Kapral, Rollins Heath, and Chase MacCartee found the back of the net to end the third up 12-10.

Gumucio (two) and Heath combined for the next three goals to open the fourth, but Wittenberg scored four out of five to cut the lead to one with 2:36 to play, as Chintala found his team-leading fifth of the game. 

With 1:29 remaining, McCarren scored his third of the day, joining Chintala and Gumucio for hat tricks and icing the Tigers to secure the 17-15 win. 

Adam Hall had nine saves in the cage, while Tomas Nelson won 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) faceoffs. With Chintala’s impressive seven point day, he now ranks third in the NCAC in goals per game (3.14) and sixth in points per game (4.00).

The Owls improved to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference with the two-day victory. Kenyon will now embark on its final conference road trip of the season, a two game stretch beginning on Saturday, April 20 as the team will take on DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana at 12:00 p.m.