Earlham College made their first-ever appearance in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament a memorable one as Joy Doucette's goal in the 85th minute sent the Quakers to a 1-0 victory over the top-seeded and 14th-ranked Denison Big Red on Wednesday night at Barclay-Thomsen Field in Granville, Ohio.
In the first half of play it appeared that Earlham was content with packing their backline and playing for a tie with the Big Red. DU held a 12-0 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes, including four shots on goal. However, the Quakers shed their docile ways in the second frame and really put the pressure on the Denison defense.
Just over 14 minutes into the game, the Big Red had a pair of solid scoring opportunities created by juniors Jen Clemmer (Hixson, Tenn./The Baylor School) and Kimmi Oshita (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore). After a Clemmer shot was blocked by an Earlham defender, Oshita followed up with an attempt that was chipped up in the air and snagged by Quaker keeper Megan Holthaus.
Earlham's first real scoring opportunity came at the 70:39 mark. Reigning NCAC Player of the Week Joy Doucette one touched the ball past the challenging goalie. After regaining control of the ball, Doucette worked back towards the DU goal that was occupied by a Big Red defender and keeper Courtney Cobb (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy). Doucette unloaded a shot from the left side that ricocheted off the cross bar.
At 84:38, Doucette broke the scoreless tie when she settled a failed clear attempted and fired a shot from 10 yards out past Cobb for her seventh tally of the season.
At the end of the night Denison held a 22-8 advantage in shots, and attempted six corners compared to Earlham's three. Holthaus made five of Earlham's eight saves, while Cobb finished the night with one stop.
Clemmer paced the DU attack with five shots, while Lauren Farell (Sylvania, Ohio/Toledo Central Catholic) recorded four and Maggie Hoskin (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), Anna Rusch (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends School) and Oshita all registered three shots.
The Big Red move to 15-3-2 on the season and Earlham improves to 12-6-1. The Quakers advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship match on Saturday (Nov. 7) at a location and time to be determined. Denison, who are hoping to earn their 13th NCAA Tournament berth, will await word from the NCAA selection committee on Monday (Nov. 9).
