LEXINGTON, Va.- No. 8 Denison cruised into the NCAA Quarterfinals after a 16-5 win over Aurora University on Saturday at Washington and Lee University. With the win, Denison will face the University of Chicago on Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. with a berth to the Final Four on the line.
The Big Red asserted themselves early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead 10 minutes into the game thanks to a pair of goals from Molly Fischer and tallies from Lindsey Karsh and Emma Repke.
Denison (11-1) closed out the first half on a five-goal run to take an 11-2 lead into the break. In the second half, the Big Red scored the first four goals of the period to put the game out of reach. The Spartans would add three goals in the closing minutes of the second half to set the final at 16-5.
The win marks Denison's first NCAA Quarterfinal appearance since 1994 and the program's 10th overall.
Fischer finished the day with four goals for DU while Casey McTague and Maddie Morrell followed with two. Megan Cunningham and Charlotte Godfrey led Denison with three ground balls apiece while McTague paced the squad with seven draw controls. Karsh posted four points (2g, 2a) and Ryann Tospa finished with three (1g, 2a).
Caroline O'Dea got the win in goal playing 40 minutes with one save. Maeve Caldwell finished the contest and tallied six goals. Aurora goalie Jenna Ford posted 12 saves while facing 28 shots on-goal.
DU outshot Aurora (11-4) 38-16 and the Big Red controlled 17 of the 22 draws while scoring eight goals via 11 free-position shots.
Sundays NCAA Quarterfinal is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The University of Chicago (11-1) defeated John Carroll 17-9 to advance to the quarterfinals prior to the Denison-Aurora matchup.
