Box Score When you find yourself in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, with just 16 teams in all of Division III field hockey still competing, you have placed yourself in some elite company.
On Saturday from Ryan Field in Brunswick, Maine, the Denison Big Red's rocket-ride of a 2011 season came to an end following a 4-1 loss to the MIT Engineers from the campus of Bowdoin College.
Despite the eventual three-goal deficit and the distinct advantage for the Engineers in the shot department, Denison hung tough as they have throughout the team's ascension to the top of the Great Lakes region in 2011.
DU trailed 2-1 at the half and the contest remained a one-goal affair well into the second half of play. MIT got on the scoreboard first when Anna Teruya scored off an assist by Kimberly Barker in the 14th minute of play. Less than five minutes later, the nation's leader in assists, Kameron Klauber, got in on the goal scoring action with her 25th goal of the year after taking a pass from Kimberly Barker.
Unfazed by what was their first two-goal deficit of the season, DU charged back in the 20th minute when Katie McMahon got out on one of her many break-away attempts and found Catie Merrick who punched the ball into the back of the cage. The goal was Merrick's 15th of the season.
That 2-1 score would stand for the next 37 minutes of play. The Engineers were peppering the Big Red with both penalty corner attempts and shots from every angle but the DU defense, led by junior Brittany Benson, was there to turn away MIT time after time. Benson, who entered the match ranked second in the nation in save percentage, lived up to the billing by playing one the best games of her career in an eventual 15 save effort by the DU netminder.
At the end of the first half, Benson's ability was put to the test when MIT 's Kimberly Barker and Katie Kauffman sent four consecutive shots in her direction. All four shot attempts were saved by Benson.
In the second half, Denison forced four penalty corner's and nearly scored on one to tie the match in the 56th minute. Following the miss, MIT regained possession and Barker would score for the first time with 56:47 to play off a rebounded save off Benson's shin guard. Barker would tack on a second score with just 36 seconds remaining in the match, setting the final score at 4-1.
MIT outshot Denison 35-7 and won the penalty corner battle 15-4. McMahon paced DU with four shots and Merrick's pair of shot attempts were both on-cage. Denison's season comes to a close with a school-record tying 18 victories and an impressive 18-2 record. The loss snaps a 9-match winning streak that dated back to Oct. 1.
MIT advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals (Elite 8) on Sunday (Nov. 13) where they will take on the top-ranked host, Bowdoin at 1 p.m.
Denison senior co-captains Kelsey Flowers and Caroline Kasper closed out excellent careers for the Big Red field hockey team this afternoon. The duo are the first set of Denison seniors to end their respective careers in the NCAA Division III Tournament since DU last advanced to national play in the 2000 season.
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