The Denison Big Red field hockey team clinched a spot in next week's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament following a 4-1 victory over Earlham College on Saturday from Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.
The Big Red, who entered the match tied with Kenyon College, needed a victory by The College of Wooster along with a win of their own to make a return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2006. The Big Red held up their end of the bargain with a three-goal win and the Fighting Scots scored three times in the second half to upend Kenyon's chances, 5-1.
The Big Red found themselves trailing 1-0 early in the first half following Cassie Gage's 15th goal of the season.
In the 22nd minute of play DU broke through and tied the match when Brooke Donovan (Westport, Conn./Staples) found Catie Merrick (Owings Mills, Md./Garrison Forest) on her first of what would be two goals on the day. The two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1 but DU held a 15-5 advantage in shots. The biggest problem for the Big Red in the second half would be trying to slip one by Earlham goalkeeper Emma Treece. The freshman posted nine saves in the opening 35 minutes and was keeping her Quakers in the contest.
Seven minutes into the second half Denison senior Kristen Schneider (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) got in position in front of the goal after putting a corner into play and Merrick found her for her seventh goal of the season. Merrick and Schneider would each score one more time, setting the final score at 4-1.
For Merrick, her 17 goals ties Wizzie Crocker and Cheryl Connolly for fourth place on the Denison single-season goals scored list. Schneider's two goals give her eight on the season and 17 for her career. She needs just one assist to tie the DU single-season record.
Freshman goalie Brittany Benson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) posted four saves in the cage for DU helping her save percentage rise to .752.
The victory sets up a rematch with No. 1 seeded Wooster on Wednesday (Nov. 4) at 2 p.m. in Wooster, Ohio. The other semifinal will pit No. 2 seeded Wittenberg versus No. 3 seed, Ohio Wesleyan. That match will be played in Springfield on Wednesday. The winners of both semifinals will meet at the highest remaining seed's home site on Saturday (Nov. 7) at a time to be determined.
Prior to the match Denison's seven senior members, Kristen Bauman, Lauren Keny, Molly McCue, Kristen Schneider, Bethany Keller, Emily Marshall, and Katie Partridge were honored for their four years of dedication to the Big Red field hockey program.
