SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Meg Wozniak's goal in the 89th minute propelled the Denison women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Wittenberg and the program's third North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday night at Edwards-Maurer Field.

With the win, the Big Red will receive the NCAC's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. This marks the second-straight year that Denison has qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the 16th bid in program history.

Looking to avenge a 3-2 to the Tigers at home less than two weeks ago, the Big Red pushed the tempo early and generated a quality scoring chance inside the opening two minutes. Senior captain Anne Denz sent a cross from the end line that was one-timed off the crossbar by junior Grace Murray. The deflection landed back in the center of the six-yard box before being cleared away by the Wittenberg defense.

Murray had another chance to bury a one-timer in the 58th minute off a cross by Denz, but her shot was turned aside on a nice stop by Wittenberg goalie Hannah Wilson. The game remained scoreless until the 88:20 mark. After a second corner kick in a 40 seconds span, Denz set the ball near the flag along the end line. After signaling for her teammates in motion, the senior captain one-hopped the ball towards the back post, off the knee of Wozniak and into the back of the net for the game's first goal. The junior captain's third goal of the season came with 1:40 left on the clock.

Wittenberg had one last-ditch effort when Taylor Vaughn blasted a shot with 62 seconds to play. However, junior goalie Jenny Herold came up large with a diving stop to rob Vaughn of the game-time goal.

Both teams attempted 10 shots in the match, while the Big Red had six of the game's seven corners. Herold finished with four saves en route to her eighth shutout of the season, while her counterpart, Wilson, made three saves.

At the conclusion of the match, Wozniak, Denz, Jessica Skelly, Maggie Armstrong, Jacquie Graham were all named to the first-ever NCAC Women's Soccer All-Tournament team, while junior center back Drew Wentzel was selected the first-ever NCAC Women's Soccer Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Denison improves to 10-5-4 with the victory, while the Tigers fall to 13-4-2. This is the Big Red's third NCAC Tournament Championship and the first since 2010. Denison will find out who their opponent in next weekend's NCAA Tournament on Monday (Nov. 7) when the entire tournament field is announced by the NCAA.