GRANVILLE, Ohio (October 22, 2022) – Jaggar Brooker’s goal in the 83rd minute helped Ohio Wesleyan University secure a 1-0 victory over the Denison University men’s soccer team during its Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Barclay-Thomsen Field. Prior to the match, Denison recognized its nine seniors, Jackson Briggs, Zach Case, Pierre de la Croix-Vaubois, Lorenz Hoover, Luke Mattessich, Ethan Miracle, Vitor Rocha, Henry Schwartz, and Luca Vicinelli, for their time and dedication to the DU men’s soccer program over the last four years.
It was a battle between the second and third-place teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference as Denison moved to 8-4-3 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference while OWU, which has not lost since September 7 at John Carroll University and has now recorded eight consecutive shutouts since then, their longest shutout streak since 2010, moved to 6-4-4 and 4-0-2.
After a save by OWU’s Mason Taylor on a header by Jake Krueger in the 17th minute, the Battling Bishops quickly reversed field and got a great one-on-one attempt against Denison’s Tommy Prokos, who was up for the challenge and made an incredible diving save only 20 seconds later.
Prokos made another save in the 31st minute, and then in the final four minutes of the first half, a direct kick by Mattessich was saved by Taylor.
In the second half, Rohan Tripathy had a shot that was saved in the 65th minute, the fifth save of the match by Taylor.
In the 76th minute, a corner kick by Mattessich led to a good look on a header by de la Croix-Vaubois, but it just snuck wide left of the post.
Denison filled up the shot chart in the second half and did a good job of maintaining possession for most of the period, but after a shot by Krueger was blocked in the 81st minute, a quick counter by the Bishops got the ball to Brooker just past midfield, who took the ball all the way down to the box and scored in the 83rd minute.
In the 87th minute, a shot by Cameron McIntosh was saved by Taylor, his sixth and final save of the match, and then Miracle missed high in the 88th minute.
In the final 31 seconds, Denison got a corner kick by Mattessich for one final chance, but it sailed high across the field and over everybody.
“Credit to Ohio Wesleyan for making a play to win it,” spoke Head Coach Brandon Bianco. “We did some good things and had some guys play bigger roles and do a great job. We needed a little more bite in our attack to find a goal but there are positive moments we can take from today into our final week.”
Denison outshot OWU 11-4 overall in the second half, but fell short on the scoreboard as the Bishops converted on their only shot on goal of the period.
Senior Day Recap:
Jackson Briggs has played in 23 matches in his career, including two starts as a freshman and five appearances so far this season. He has totaled two goals in his career, including a penalty kick goal last week during Denison’s 8-0 victory over Hiram College. His first career goal came during his freshman season in 2019 during a 10-0 win at Penn State-Altoona on August 31.
Zach Case has played in 19 matches while starting three matches as a junior and playing in three matches so far this year.
Pierre de la Croix-Vaubois has played in 45 matches in his career while earning the start in 34 matches, including starting in nine of his 11 appearances so far this season. He has totaled three assists in his career while as a key defender for the Big Red, he has helped post 18 shutouts. As a junior in 2021, Pierre had an amazing season that saw him earn second-team all-conference honors, be named to the NCAC All-Tournament Team, and be awarded Second-Team All-Ohio and First-Team Academic All-Ohio. Pierre is also a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll as well as a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee.
Lorenz Hoover has played in 51 matches while starting 42, including starting every match since the beginning of his junior year. Lorenz has totaled one goal in his career, doing so in his first career match at Juniata College in 2019. This past season in 2021, Lorenz was named first-team all-conference as a midfielder, was selected to the NCAC All-Tournament Team, and was named Second-Team All-Ohio and Third-Team All-Region.
Luke Mattessich has played in 48 matches in his career while starting 33, including earning the start in all 15 matches so far this season. Luke has totaled seven assists in his career with at least two assists in every season, and he scored his first career goal during Denison’s 5-0 season-opening win this year at Springfield College.
Ethan Miracle has played in 51 matches while starting 48, including starting every match since the beginning of his junior year. Ethan has totaled 22 goals, six assists and six game-winning goals in his career. As a freshman in 2019, Ethan led the team in goals with seven and was named to honorable mention all-conference. As a junior in 2021, Ethan tied for second on the team with six goals and was tied for first with three assists as he earned his second career All-NCAC recognition after being named second team all-conference in addition to being named Second-Team All-Ohio. So far this season, Ethan is tied for second in the conference in goals with nine and is third in the conference in points with 19.
Vitor Rocha has played in 49 matches in his career with 28 starts, and has played in all 15 matches while starting four so far this season. Vitor has totaled nine goals and four assists in his career, including leading the Big Red with eight goals in the 2021 season en route to being named honorable mention all-conference and Second-Team All-Ohio. As a freshman in 2019, Vitor led the Big Red with three assists. In 2021-22, Vitor was named to the NCAC Academic Honor Roll, was a Denison Top-50 Scholar Athlete, and was inducted into Denison’s Chi Alpha Sigma Chapter.
Henry Schwartz has played in 28 matches while starting in three, and he has appeared in 10 matches so far this season. In 2021, Henry totaled one goal and two assists and scored his first career goal on October 19 during Denison 3-0 win at DePauw University while also recording his first career assist during Denison’s 2021 season opener at the University of Mount Union.
Luca Vicinelli has played 34 matches in his career while starting five, including playing in 10 matches with one start so far this season. Luca has totaled seven goals, three assists and one game-winning goal in his career. As a freshman in 2019, Luca scored his first two career goals in a 10-0 win at Penn State-Altoona on August 31st. Then as a junior in 2021, Luca was fourth on the Big Red with four goals scored and was tied for the team lead with three assists.
Denison will wrap up its final week of the regular season by hosting DePauw University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 25, before traveling to the College of Wooster for a 3 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, October 29.
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