Despite being outshot by more than a 5-1 ratio, the Denison Big Red made their scoring attempts count in a 3-2 road victory over Ohio Wesleyan University which clinched the No. 4 seed in next week's North Coast Athletic Conference Field Hockey Championship Tournament.

Denison drew first blood in the 18th minute when first-year Mia Day (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) scored her second goal of the season when Catie Merrick (Owings Mills, Md./Garrison Forest) re-directed DU's first penalty corner attempt of the contest to Day who finished off the play with the match's first goal.

Over the next 13 minutes of play the Bishops would attempt seven shots, with five of those resulting in a save for Denison goalie Brittany Benson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier).  After that offensive flurry for Ohio Wesleyan, Denison's Katie McMahon (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) converted a fast break goal in the 31st minute to put Denison out in front 2-0.

Just three minutes later the Battling Bishops answered when Christa Cocumelli found Macie Miller for OWU's first goal of the match.  They would attempt three more shots over the final two minutes of the first half.

In the second half it was more of the same as the Bishops continued their offensive barrage until DU got the ball into OWU territory where Merrick would take a shot that was saved by Bishop defender Hannah Coughlin.  After the defensive save, the Big Red were awarded a penalty shot that Merrick successfully converted, giving Denison a 3-1 lead with 24 minutes to play.

In the 58th minute OWU would cut the Denison lead to one when Miller scored off a redirection by Lilly Jianas.  The Bishops would attempt two more shots and both would go wide of the goal to set the final score at 3-2.

Ohio Wesleyan held a 27-5 advantage in shots and held a 9-2 lead in penalty corner attempts.  Benson finished with eight saves for Denison while OWU's Abbie Martin posted one save.

Denison improves to 7-10 overall and 5-6 in the NCAC with the victory.  Ohio Wesleyan drops to 7-9 and 5-7.  This marks DU's second consecutive NCAC Tournament berth.  They will close out the regular season on Saturday at home against Oberlin College at 12 p.m.