GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 2, 2021) – After finishing with its league-best 11th North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season title in program history and second regular-season title in the last three full seasons, the Denison University women's soccer team will now set its sights on the NCAC Tournament semifinals, where it will host Wittenberg University at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3, on Barclay-Thomsen Field.

It will be the 18th trip to the NCAC Tournament in the last 19 seasons for Denison, which has won the tournament four times overall, most recently in 2016.

The top-seeded Big Red finished the regular season 11-4 overall, 7-4 in the NCAC and 8-2 at home while Wittenberg was 8-8-1 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Denison won each of its first seven conference matches of the year with six shutouts while the Tigers have won two in a row since a 1-0 defeat at Denison on October 23. Denison's most recent outing was a close 1-0 defeat on the road at the College of Wooster on October 30 to keep the Big Red from finishing the season undefeated in conference play.

Senior Abby King leads the Big Red with seven goals and 17 points so far while sophomore Callie Davis is next with five goals and 11 points. Amy Chiero, Dulcie Heyes and Katie Livingston have each scored three times on the season while Chiero leads Denison in assists with four.

King is tied for fourth in the NCAC in goals and points and is fourth in total shots with 54 while Davis is tied for seventh in goals and Chiero is tied for fourth in assists.

Senior goalkeeper Patil Tcholakian is 10-3 on the season with seven shutouts, 49 saves, a .860 save percentage and a 0.64 goals-against average.

Tcholakian leads the NCAC in save percentage, goals-against average and goals allowed with only eight.

NCAC Athlete of the Week Awards: Denison women's soccer earned three conference athlete of the week awards throughout the regular season:

9/13: Callie Davis scored two goals on the week, including the game-winning goal in the 81st minute in Denison's 1-0 victory over Transylvania University on Friday night. She then scored the first goal of the match in the 22nd minute during Denison's 3-2 win over Calvin College on Saturday as the Big Red improved to 4-0 as a team.

10/11: Abby King had four points while helping the Denison women's soccer team to two more conference wins on the week. King assisted on both of Denison's goals in its 2-1 win at Ohio Wesleyan University on Tuesday night (Oct. 5), and then she scored a goal during her Senior Day on Saturday (Oct. 9) in which Denison defeated Kenyon College 3-0.

10/25: Patil Tcholakian recorded shutouts against Oberlin and Wittenberg last week, helping the Big Red improve to 6-0 in the NCAC. Tcholakian and the Big Red kept the Yeowomen off the scoreboard for 93 minutes which allowed a Denison goal in overtime to keep the Big Red unblemished in the conference standings. She then followed with an eight-save performance in a 1-0 victory over the Tigers.

Seeds and Schedule:
#1 Denison (7-1-0)
#2 Kenyon (5-2-1)
#3 Wooster (5-2-1)
#4 Wittenberg (5-3-0)
Note: Kenyon wins the head-to-head tiebreaker over Wooster for the second seed.

The tournament will open with semifinal games on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 2-3, with the championship game slated for Saturday, November 6, at the site of the highest remaining seed to emerge from the semifinals.

Semifinal Game - Tuesday, November 2
#3 Wooster at #2 Kenyon, 2:00 p.m.

Semifinal Game - Wednesday, November 3
#4 Wittenberg at #1 Denison, 5:00 p.m.

Championship Game - Saturday, November 6
Winners of semifinal games at highest remaining seed, TBA

As conference champions, the Big Red will enter the 2021 NCAC Tournament as the top seed and will entertain fourth-seeded Wittenberg on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 5:00 p.m., while second-seeded Kenyon will host third-seeded Wooster on Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 2:00 p.m. Denison beat Wittenberg, 1-0, in the regular season on Oct. 23, while Kenyon earned a 1-0 decision over Wooster on Oct. 20. The championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 6, at the site of the highest remaining seed to emerge from the semifinal round.

Tourney Notes: The tournament winner receives the NCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament ... Denison returns to the tournament field for the 18th time in the past 19 seasons and will look for its fourth tournament title, most recently winning it in 2016 … Kenyon returns to the tournament for the seventh-straight season and will be seeking its second tournament title ... Wooster enters its 11th NCAC Tournament and will look for its third tournament title ... Wittenberg is making its 17th tournament appearance all-time and seventh in the last eight seasons… The Fighting Scots claimed their second Tournament title in 2019 after working through the bracket as the No. 2 seed by knocking off No. 3 Denison, 2-0, in the semifinals and No. 1 DePauw in double overtime, 1-0, in the championship final.

Spectator Policy: General admission is being accepted and will be subject to the NCAC's ticket pricing for conference championship events ($7 for adults per day, $3 for children per day, payable by cash). Students from all NCAC institutions get in free with their campus ID card, but there will be no pass lists for teams. Vaccines continue to be our best defense against COVID-19, and in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations, and for this reason, we are requiring all visitors to campus to be fully vaccinated. We ask those who are unvaccinated to please not visit campus at this time.

• $7 for adults, $3 for children per day (one ticket good for all matches on each day – separate tickets will be required for each day)
• Students from all NCAC Institutions get in free with their campus ID card (no pass list for teams)
• Additionally, the first 25 Denison faculty/staff members each day will receive free admission
• Vaccinations remain required on campus.
• Masking is still highly encouraged.
• Masking is REQUIRED to enter any building on campus for any reason. This includes accessing the restrooms at Barclay-Thomsen Field.
• No seating limit. However, social distancing is strongly encouraged among different households.
• There will be designated seating for visiting spectators.

Denison University Athletics appreciates your cooperation in our efforts to keep everyone safe and to allow everyone to enjoy watching our Big Red sports teams.

Campus COVID Information: https://denison.edu/campus/covid19

NCAC Ticket Policy: https://northcoast.org/Championships/ticket

Media Coverage: To follow the action all tournament long, please check out our Live Stats (https://denisonbigred.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary) and Live Video (https://www.northcoastnetwork.com/denison/) pages provided by Denison Athletic Communications.

NCAC Tournament Page: https://northcoast.org/sports/wsoc/Tournament/2021