The 21st North Coast Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament will conclude this Saturday with a 5 p.m. championship final between third-seeded Denison and top-seeded Wittenberg from Edwards-Maurer field in Springfield, Ohio.
Denison comes off an exciting 14-13 semifinal win over second-seeded Allegheny in Meadville, Pa. The Big Red defeated the Gators behind four goals from first-year Claire Ludlow and a go-ahead goal from junior Whitney Powel with 12 seconds left.
In Denison's regular season matchup with the Tigers, Wittenberg won a back-and-forth game by a final of 15-14. The Tigers went ahead 15-14 on a Megan Loofbourrow goal with 3:27 left. Reid Hirschey netted a hat trick in the contest for the Big Red. Another high-scoring matchup is anticipated, with the Big Red, 24th ranked scoring offense, facing off against the best scoring offense in Division III.
Wittenberg's high power offense is led by junior Logan Warye, who scored a conference-high 64 goals and also added 28 assists on the season. Her 92 total points are second-best in conference. The Tigers have won 11 consecutive games, including all eight conference games. Most recently, the Tigers won 18-3 over fourth-seeded Wooster. Warye had a goal and an assist in the semifinal win.
Wayre also leads the Tigers with 61 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers. Senior Francine Murzynski with 95 draw controls. For the Big Red, junior Whitney Powel leads with 49 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers. Molly Chapman has tallied 104 draw controls on the season and on Wednesday, she became the fourth player in conference history to score 100 career goals and record 100 career assists. Chapman leads the team in assists with 34 and has added 27 goals.
In goal, Wittenberg starts Katie Reuter. The sophomore has started every game for Wittenberg this season, posting a .418 save percentage and 11.44 goals against average. DU goalie Laura Van Horn has started 13 games, tallying a .394 save percentage and 9.97 GAA.
Saturday's game marks Denison's 14th appearance in the NCAC Tournament Championship. This is the second appearance for Wittenberg. These two teams met in the 2012 NCAC Championship, the most recent championship appearance for both squads, a game that saw the Big Red prevail by a final of 11-9. In their 13 pervious NCAC Tournament championship appearances, Denison is 8-5.
The winner of Saturday's NCAC Championship game will represent the conference in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
By Alex Kaufman
Denison Sports Information Assistant
