Gambier, Ohio – The top-seeded Kenyon College Lords earned a 5-1 victory over the Oberlin College Yeomen in the North Coast Athletic Conference Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at Mavec Field.
 
The Lords not only earned the No. 1 seed in the league, but also entered as the ninth-ranked team in the country in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
 
Unlike last week's regular-season tilt, it was the Yeomen who struck first as Lords' keeper Ian McInturf came charging off his line and crashed into Nic Jandeleit to setup a Yeomen penalty kick just a minute into the match. Jandeleit would step up to the spot and bury his team-leading ninth goal of the year.
 
The Lords would settle in and create some dangerous challenges but the Yeomen backline stood tall. Fiachra McDonagh denied a Philippe Stengel shot from in tight in the 10^th minute and midway through the stanza a Scott Upton header was turned away by a Yeomen defender to keep the lead intact. However, just seconds later a foul inside the box – but away from the play – gave the Lords a penalty kick opportunity of their own. Upton would deposit the freebie to even the count at 1-1 where it would stand into the intermission.
 
Kenyon came out of the interval and immediately pressured the Yeomen rearguard as less than 90 seconds in a team save by Julian Klingen kept it square for a brief moment. However, the Lords would take the lead in 49^th minute when Upton headed home a cross from the far-left side by Jack Cohen.
 
The Yeomen had a golden opportunity to square the match in the 58^th minute as a beautifully slotted through-ball from David Shostak had Michael Candelori in a one-on-one situation with McInturf but after beating the charging netminder, Candelori sailed his left-footed strike wide of target.
 
Unfortunately, the threat would wake up the Lords as Cohen tacked on an insurance tally just two minutes later. Kenyon, who controlled the bulk of the possession in the second half, would go on to add two more second-half scores to cap the game's scoring.
 
The Lords ended with a 31-6 advantage in shots, including a 14-2 margin in shots on goal. Kenyon also triggered eight corners compared to Oberlin's five.
 
McDonagh finished with six saves in 83 minutes of work before turning things over to Parker Whitcomb for the final stretch.  
 
Oberlin, which made its fourth NCAC Tournament appearance in the last seven years, ends the season 8-11 and 5-4 in the NCAC. The Lords extended their conference unbeaten streak to 41 matches as they head into the conference title game at 16-1-3.