RICHMOND, Ind. (November 2, 2021) – The third-seeded Denison University field hockey team defeated second-seeded Earlham College 2-1 in shootouts during the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Tuesday to advance to their fourth straight NCAC Tournament Championship game.

It was the second time this season Denison and Earlham played to a shootout after it was the Quakers that came away with a 3-2 shootout win during the regular season on October 21 in Granville, Ohio.

Just like it did the last time the two teams played, Earlham went first to start the shootout, but this time, the Quakers started with the 1-0 lead.

Madeleine Hunt answered with a goal on Denison's first shootout attempt, and then Denise Bergdolt, the player who netted the game-winner during the first shootout between Denison and Earlham, was stopped by Big Red goalkeeper Maren Kraak.

In the fourth round of the shootout, Earlham shot off the right post on its second shot opportunity, and then Abigail Hano capitalized, scoring around the right side of the Earlham goalkeeper, Meg Murphy, to give the Big Red the 2-1 lead.

On the final attempt for Earlham trying to tie it, Kraak made the save diving to her right, and Denison was victorious.

Earlham, which was making its first NCAC Tournament appearance after securing the best record in program history during the regular season, scored first in this one. After the Big Red started the game with two penalty corners by AC Veith and a pair of shots by Cary Mauck and Kristin Kelley in the first two and a half minutes, it was the Quakers who struck first with a goal in the 11th minute.

The two teams finished the first half with only two shots apiece, all of which came in the first three minutes of the game except for the goal.

In the first minute of the second half, Maya Tumiwa had a shot blocked, the second block of the game for Earlham, and then Veith took her third penalty corner in the 36th minute, and ended up putting it into the back of the net after corralling the rebound near the goal.

Hano shot high in the 40th minute and then had a shot saved in the 45th.

Veith took her fourth penalty corner of the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter, leading to a shot wide left by Kelley.

From there, the fourth quarter became a battle of the goalkeepers.

In the 53rd minute, Earlham's first shot since its goal way back in the first quarter was saved by Kraak, and then less than a minute after that, Tumiwa's second shot attempt of the game ended with a great save by Murphy.

Murphy made two more saves on shots by Tumiwa in the 58th and 59th minutes, and then Kraak made another save in the final five seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.

The Big Red doubled up the Quakers both on total shots (10-5) and on shots on goal (6-3) during regulation, and did not allow a penalty corner during the first 60 minutes.

Kraak made a save on the first shot of overtime in the 65th minute, and then Earlham nearly scored on a quick counter down field after a penalty corner by Denison, but the shot went wide left.

Kraak made yet another save in the 67th minute, and then after the first penalty corner of the game for Earlham with only a minute and a half left in the first overtime, the fourth shot attempt of the period by the Quakers was blocked.

Earlham then opened the second overtime with a shot just missing wide right.

After Denison was held to without a shot attempt in the first overtime, Kelley took a great run up the field and had a one-on-one opportunity against Murphy in the 75th minute, but it was shot right at her from the right side and was saved.

In the final two minutes of the second overtime, the Denison defense came up with its third and fourth blocks of the game, and then with only a minute left on the clock, Earlham's fourth shot of the second overtime went wide left.

With the win on Tuesday, Denison (10-7 overall) will host fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University (9-5) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 6. Ohio Wesleyan defeated top-seeded Kenyon College 1-0 on Tuesday to punch its ticket to the title game. The winner of Saturday's championship game will receive the NCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Denison will be seeking its fourth-straight NCAC Tournament Championship and the program's fifth overall since the conference tournament began in 2002.