The Ohio Wesleyan University field hockey team will face Rowan in a second-round game of the NCAA Division III tournament at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Glassboro, N.J.
Ohio Wesleyan (11-5) advanced to the second round with a 2-1 overtime win over 15th-ranked Cortland on Wednesday. Sophomore midfielder Megan Knee (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) scored the game-winner off a pass from senior midfielder Astrid Koek (Maastricht, the Netherlands/Erasmus) following a penalty corner. Sophomore midfielder Emily Streeter (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) had scored courtesy of an assist from freshman midfielder Colleen McMenamin (Chester, N.J./West Morris Regional) to erase a 1-0 deficit. Freshman goalkeeper Meg McCarthy (Trumbull, Conn.) made 9 saves in the contest.
"It's extremely exciting," said Bishop head coach Brenda Semit of her team's advancement to the second round. "All year, we've been the underdog team, though we've never thought of ourselves as the underdog team. We've thought that we can win any game that we're in, and with how young we are, that's an extremely rare thing to feel. We've been resilient all year, and obviously, this will be challenging, but we really do believe we can beat any team that we play, and when you have that mindset thoughout an entire team, it's dangerous."
Ohio Wesleyan won the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament with wins over Kenyon (1-0) and Denison (2-1), the Battling Bishops' first-ever NCAC tournament title. The Bishops finished fourth in the NCAC championship race with a 5-3 record and became the first No. 4 seed ever to win the NCAC tournament. Ohio Wesleyan is making its ninth NCAA Division III playoff appearance and its first NCAA playoff appearance since 1995.
Koek leads the Bishops with 15 points on 6 goals and 3 assists, with 4 of those goals game-winners. Sophomore midfielder Allie Crawford (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) leads the Bishops with 7 goals. McCarthy has a goals-against average of 0.76 and has posted 4 shutouts.
Rowan (16-2) received a first-round bye. The Profs won the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship with victories over Ramapo (3-1) and sixth-ranked Kean (1--0), the latter in double overtime, in the NJAC tournament after going 6-0 in league play. Rowan was ranked first in Region IV in the NCAA Division III regional rankings of Oct. 31 and was ranked No. 4 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings of Nov. 9. Rowan is making its third consecutive NCAA Division III tournament (2018-19, 2021) and its 20th overall Division III appearance. The Profs won the NCAA Division III championship in 2002 and have advanced to the national semifinals thrice.
The Profs will be led by a trio of double-digit scorers in Kristiina Castagnola, who has 17 goals and 7 assists on the season; Julia Patrone, with a team-high 18 goals and 4 assists for 40 points; and Krystyna Hovell with 15 goals and 7 assists. Rowan ranks seventh in NCAA Division III in scoring with an average of 4.23 goals per game. Abby Hainsworth has started 15 games in the cage for the Profs, compiling a goals-against average of 0.70 and 6 shutouts.
Saturday's game will be the first meeting between Ohio Wesleyan and Rowan in field hockey.
In Saturday's other second-round game at Rowan, Scranton (Pa.) will face Washington & Lee (Va.) at 2 p.m.
Scranton (18-1) advanced to the second round with a 3-2 overtime win over Ursinus on Wednesday, the first NCAA Division III tournament victory ever for the Royals. Elle Collins scored the game-winner 23 seconds into overtime. The Royals won the Landmark Conference championship with tournament wins over Susquehanna (2-1, OT) and Catholic (3-1) after sharing the Landmark's regular-season crown with a 6-1 record. Scranton was ranked sixth in Region V in the NCAA Division III regional rankings of Oct. 31 and was ranked No. 18 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings of Nov. 9. Scranton is making its second consecutive NCAA Division III tournament appearance (2019 and 2021) and its third overall appearance. Katie Redding leads Scranton with 17 goals and 11 assists, followed by Allie Benadon with 14 goals and 6 assists and Bridget Abraldes with 10 goals and 3 assists. Claire Maguire has started 16 games in the Royals' cage with a goals-against average of 0.60 and 6 shutouts.
Washington & Lee (17-0) received a first-round bye. The Generals won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship with wins over Roanoke (2-0) and Lynchburg (3-1) in the ODAC tournament after going 8-0 in the ODAC during the regular season. W&L was ranked first in Region VI in the NCAA Division III regional rankings of Oct. 31 and was ranked No. 9 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings of Nov. 9. The Generals are making their third NCAA Division III tournament appearance and their first since 2017. Washington & Lee leads NCAA Division III teams in scoring with an average of 5.12 goals per game, led by Tess Muneses with 13 goals and 9 assists, Grace Weise and 14 goals and 6 assists, Freddie Tobeason with 14 goals and 4 assists, and Peyton Tysinger with 10 goals and 5 assists. Sara Amil has started all 17 games in goal for the Generals and has a goals-against average of 0.85 and 7 shutouts.
The winners of Saturday's second-round games will advance to an NCAA Division III quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Rowan.
NCAA championship release
NCAA championship bracket (interactive)
NCAA championship bracket (printable)
NCAA digital game program (large file)
