This past week, the Kenyon men’s lacrosse team picked up two key conference victories to move to 10-1 (3-1 NCAC). After defeating the DePauw University Tigers on Saturday for Senior Day, the Owls won a road game against the Wittenberg University Tigers on Tuesday.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Kenyon honored its 13 seniors. For Finn Murray ’23, the occasion was particularly meaningful. “Senior Day is always an important game, but, as an underclassman, you might take it for granted. As a senior, it was a chance to play on [the Field at] Benson Bowl with my classmates for one of the last times, something I really tried to cherish,” he wrote in an email to the Collegian. “Playing for Kenyon lacrosse has been a special experience that allowed me to meet lifelong friends.”
On the field, Rollins Heath ’25 continued his strong play, opening the scoring for the Owls just over a minute into the game. His tally was the first of six unanswered goals for Kenyon over the first half. Though the Tigers got a goal back with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter, the Owls took a 6-1 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, Kenyon tacked on three goals to build its advantage to 9-1 heading into the final 15 minutes. After a goal from Leo Cowie ’23, Hill Carter ’25 completed his first collegiate hat trick to give the Owls a double-digit lead. Though DePauw added on two goals in the waning minutes of the game, Kenyon came away with the 13-3 win.
Despite the eight-goal margin of victory, the Owls turned the ball over 24 times, while the Tigers did so 23 times. For Murray, who led the team with seven ground balls, the team’s win also revealed areas where Kenyon can improve. “Though the game against DePauw ended in a favorable outcome, the victory could have been by a wider margin,” he said. “We recognize that not every game will be a perfect performance, but we will have to play better as conference play continues.”
Kenyon had a chance to make changes three days later against Wittenberg. The Owls opened the scoring with an unassisted goal from Nathan Kissela ’25, but the Tigers scored two goals to take the lead with six minutes to play in the quarter. Kenyon closed the frame with four straight goals, before Wittenberg answered with a late goal to make the score 5-3 after 15 minutes. The two teams then traded goals in the second quarter to give the Owls an 8-5 lead at the half. Neither team was able to find much traction throughout the third quarter, and Kenyon held onto only a slim 10-8 lead about halfway through. From then on, the Owls took over. Kenyon scored four more goals to close out the penultimate frame, before adding on five more unanswered goals in the final quarter for a 19-8 victory. Jack Giuffre ’23 led the way with six goals as the Owls peppered the Tigers’ goalie with 71 shots. Kenyon cleaned up its turnovers against Wittenberg, turning the ball over 16 times to Wittenberg’s 21.
Kenyon will return to play on Saturday with a road game against Hiram College. Murray believes that the Owls cannot afford to rest on their laurels as the regular season begins to wind down. “For these upcoming games, we are emphasizing the importance of taking everything one play at a time and not looking past any opponent,” he said.