DELAWARE, Ohio – The two-seed Ohio Wesleyan University field hockey team (15-4) met three-seed Kenyon in the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament on a rainy Wednesday evening. The Battling Bishops erased the sting of a 3-0 loss to the Owls earlier this season, sending Kenyon home with a 1-0 result and punching a ticket to the NCAC Tournament Final on Saturday at Denison.
Grace Ammon and
Mary Powers applied early pressure with a pair of back-to-back attempts in the fifth minute but neither made it past the keeper.
Emma Reynolds tried another two minutes later but it was deflected away by a defender.
Each side had four shots in the second quarter but neither connected, leaving the game scoreless at the half.
Morgan Leeper and Reynolds made attempts in the 21st minute but both were blocked.
Mattison Hyland tried again in the 28th minute but was again met by a deflection, followed by another attempt by Reynolds a minute later that went wide.
Payton Mindel was called to action once in the second quarter, making a save in the 26th minute. Two of Kenyon's other three shots went offline while the last was blocked by the OWU defense.
OWU finally broke through in the 32nd minute for the game's first and only goal. Reynolds was responsible for the score, sending a shot off a defender and up and over the keeper. Hyland made the assist, finding Reynolds from the corner.
The Red and Black cracked off seven more attempts in the third period in hopes of adding some insurance, but were left with just the 1-0 lead.
Mary Powers put up three shots: two saved and one blocked. Hyland had two: one blocked and one wide. And Reynolds tried two more as well: one saved and one wide.
Hyland made one final attempt for Ohio Wesleyan in the 46th minute but it was saved to keep the score at 1-0. On the other end, the Owls were left without a shot by the Battling Bishop defense.
THE NUMBERS
The Red and Black kept a 16-5 advantage in shots, 7-1 in shots on goal, and 6-2 in penalty corners. The Owls made six saves compared to one for the Battling Bishops.
Emma Reynolds scored her ninth goal of the season, moving into a tie with
Grace Ammon for third on the Bishops. She now has 22 points, ranking fourth on the team.
Mattison Hyland dished out her second assist of the year. She ranks third on OWU with 24 points.
Payton Mindel (15-4) made one save and recorded her sixth complete-game shutout of the season.
UP NEXT
The two-seed Battling Bishops will face one-seed Denison in the NCAC Tournament Final on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Granville, looking for their fourth conference tournament title in the past six seasons.
