First-year Andrea Witte's goal in the 49th minute lifted Denison to a 1-0 victory over Wooster on Thursday in the semifinal round of the 2012 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.  With the win, the Big Red will be making its seventh appearance in the NCAC Tournament Championship in program history.

The Fighting Scots controlled the opening 45 minutes, holding a 7-3 advantage in shots.  Of those seven Wooster shots, two were corralled by Denison goalie Andrea Karl, while one of the three DU attempts was stopped by the Wooster netminder, Michele Ring.

In the second half, the momentum quickly swung in Denison's favor on the counter attack.  After the Scots sent the first shot of the period wide of the goal, the Big Red quickly marched down the field to create its own scoring opportunity.

Deep along the right sideline, sophomore Maddy Regan played the ball back to junior midfielder Lauren Jay.  After stepping around a Wooster defender, Jay sent a cross into the box that found Witte.  The rookie sent a looping header past Ring and into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.  Witte's fourth score of the season came at the 48:18 mark.

Now trailing by a goal, Wooster began pushing for the equalizer.  With 15:18 left in regulation, it appeared Erika Kay finally broke through the stout Denison defense.  However, senior captain Alicia Blake was right on the line to knock away the attempt.  Moments later, the Scots sent another ball into the box.  This time it was junior Jocelyn Festle that headed the ball out of the danger zone.

Over the final 15 minutes, the Big Red backline of Libbie Randolph, Blake, senior captain Leeann Kuehn and Gen Eng-Surowiec held Wooster to just two shots.  Karl's final save came off a long shot with less than a minute to play.

Wooster held a 14-5 advantage in shots and committed one more foul than the Big Red (11-10).  Both teams attempted three corner kicks.  Karl finished the game with four saves, while Ring posted one stop.  Witte logged with four shots, including the game-winning goal, while Kay paced the Scots attack with five attempts.

Denison improves to 6-10-2 on the year, while Wooster ends its season with a 12-6-1 record.  The Big Red will return to the pitch on Saturday when they host fourth-seeded DePauw in the NCAC Tournament Championship match at 2 p.m.