Ohio Wesleyan at Denison
The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team will face Denison in the championship game of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Granville.
Ticket prices for NCAC tournament games are $7 for adults and $3 for children 18 and under. Students bearing a valid ID from an NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge.
Ohio Wesleyan (9-5) is the No. 4 seed in the tournament. This marks the first time in the history of the NCAC tournament that the No. 4 seed has advanced to the championship game. The tournament's No. 1 seed has advanced to the final in each of the previous 20 tournaments. The Battling Bishops advanced to the championship game by defeating top-seeded Kenyon, 1-0, on Tuesday on a goal by sophomore midfielder Allie Crawford (West Hartford, Conn./Hall), with freshman goalkeeper Meg McCarthy (Trumbull, Conn.) making a crucial save on a shot off a penalty corner after time had expired. Ohio Wesleyan finished in fourth place in the NCAC championship race with a 5-3 record. This is Ohio Wesleyan's second appearance in the NCAC tournament championship game. The Bishops previously advanced to the championship game in 2009, falling to Wooster by a 1-0 score.
Denison (10-7) is the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Big Red advanced to the championship game by defeating Earlham, 2-1, in a shootout on Tuesday. Madeleine Hunt and Abigail Hano made their shootout attempts. Denison finished in a tie for second place in the NCAC championship race with a 6-2 record. Denison is making its seventh appearance in the NCAC tournament championship game. The Big Red has won the last 3 NCAC tournaments, defeating Wittenberg (2-1) in 2017, Wooster (2-0) in 2018, and Kenyon (2-1) in 2019.
This is the first meeting between Ohio Wesleyan and Denison in the NCAC tournament.
This season, the teams played twice, splitting a pair of one-goal decisions. Senior midfielder Astrid Koek (Maastricht, the Netherlands/Erasmus) converted a first-quarter penalty stroke and McCarthy made 4 saves during the final 63 seconds of regulation time as Ohio Wesleyan took a 1-0 non-conference verdict on Sept. 29 at Selby Stadium. On Oct. 16 in Granville, sophomore midfielder Megan Knee (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) scored to give Ohio Wesleyan a 2-1 lead, but the Big Red rallied for a 3-2 win as Hano and Grace Lock scored goals :42 apart midway through the third quarter.
The winner of Saturday's game will receive the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament, which is scheduled to begin next week.
