In the third round of the NCAA Division III men’s soccer tournament, No. 10 Denison (15-1-6) defeated top-ranked Mary Washington (19-2-2), 1-0, while No. 14 Kenyon (13-4-4) tied Connecticut Col (12-2-6) 2-2 in regulation and two scoreless overtime periods before suffering a 3-0 disadvantage in penalty kicks.
DENISON (15-1-6) 1, MARY WASHINGTON (19-2-2) 0
- In the first-of-two third-round matchups in Fredericksburg, Mary Washington was quick to control the offensive pace after the Eagles fired six shots in the first 13 minutes of action. However, Denison goalkeeper Tommy Prokos (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) garnered three saves to keep Mary Washington off the board.
- After the break, Denison fired four shots at the Eagles’ goal, but two would fly wide and goalkeeper Freddy Rogers would make two saves.
- Prokos added two more saves to his total after UMW attempted to score in the 75th and 84th minutes of the game, preserving the 0-0 tie to send the game into overtime.
- The Denison backline would keep the Eagles from scoring with a blocked shot, while Prokos would record another save to force the game into a second overtime.
- At the 4:32 mark in the second set of extra minutes, Denison junior Zarius Eusebe (Wilton, CT/Wilton) would net the game-winning header off a freekick from classmate ??Kameron Kist (New Albany, OH/New Albany) to defeat Mary Washington and advance into the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament.
- Despite being outshot 12-10, Denison earned seven corner kicks in the match while limiting Mary Washington to just three corner attempts. Prokos finished the contest with a game-high six saves.
- With the win, the Denison Big Red handed the Mary Washington Eagles their first shutout of 2024 and their first loss to an NCAA Division III program this season. The Eagles only loss of the 2024 campaign came from NCAA Division I University of Virginia (4-2).
CONNECTICUT COL. (12-2-7) 2, KENYON (13-3-5) 2 (Conn. Col. 3-0 PK Adv.)
- In the second third-round matchup in Fredericksburg, Kenyon got on the board first after rookie Emmett Brown (Minneapolis, MN/Washburn) set up senior Eamon Dujakovich (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) for a goal 11:18 into the first half.
- Less than three minutes later, Connecticut Col. would respond with a goal of their own to tie the game at 1-1.
- The Owls would outshoot the Camels 6-5 and earn the only three corner kicks of the first half.
- Kenyon would take the lead at the 76:29 mark after senior Alem Duratovic (Deerfield, IL/Adlai E. Stevenson) found the back of the net for the 2-1 edge. Three minutes later Connecticut Col. tied the game at 2-2.
- With under three minutes remaining, the Camels would fire off four shots, with Kenyon senior goalkeeper Jack Pedreschi (Shirley, MA/Groton School) making two huge saves in the last minute of action and forcing overtime.
- After two scoreless overtime periods, the game would move into penalty kicks.
- Connecticut Col. would convert the first three penalty kicks, while the Owls were unable to connect on any of their pk’s. The Camels posted the 3-0 advantage to advance into the quarterfinals.