The Denison women's soccer team earned a berth into the 2012 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament after shutting out Oberlin College, 2-0, on Senior Day in Granville, Ohio.

With the victory, and losses by Allegheny and Kenyon, the Big Red earned the third seed in next week's tournament.  DU finished in a third-place tie with DePauw, but a 1-0 victory in Greencastle on Sept. 15 gave Denison the edge in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Denison dominated play against the Yeowomen in the regular season finale from Barclay-Thomsen Field.  In the 39th minute, senior captain Sara Livingston broke a scoreless tie off an assist from junior Jocelyn Festle.  Festle slipped a pass to Livingston who unloaded a shot from 15 yards out that hit off goalie Kate Frost's hands and ended up in the back of the net.

The match remained a one-goal affair until the 76th minute when junior Emily Carlson scored off a set piece at the top of the six-yard box.   Following an Oberlin foul, junior Libbie Randolph looped a cross in from 23 yards out.  Carlson darted in front of Frost and headed the ball into the back of the net for her first-collegiate goal.

The Big Red locked down Oberlin for the entire 90 minutes, allowing just one shot that was stopped by junior keeper Andrea Karl.  On the flip side, DU had 29 shots, 14 of which were on net.  Frost finished the afternoon with 12 saves.  Denison committed six fouls compared to four by OC, while the Big Red held a 12-1 advantage in corners.

Festle finished with a game-high 11 shots, including five on goal, to pace the DU attack, while Livingston had five attempts and the game-winning goal.

With the win, Denison improves to 5-10-2 and 4-3-1 in NCAC play, while Oberlin falls to 1-15-1 and 1-7 in league action.  The Big Red returns to the pitch on Wednesday when they travel to Wooster for the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament.  Match time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

NOTE: Prior to the game Denison honored its four member senior class.  Livingston, Alicia Blake, Leeann Kuehn and Kate Ludwig have posted a .614 winning percentage to go along with an NCAC regular season (2009) and tournament (2010) title.