SALEM, Va. – Eighth-ranked Denison women's lacrosse closed out their storybook national tournament run on Saturday evening as the Big Red fell to No. 4 Salisbury University, 20-10, in the semifinals of the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship at Donald J. Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.

Playing in their first Final Four in the history of the program, the Big Red leaned on their senior leadership early on in the opening half when Liza Farnham scored her second goal of the game with 23:47 remaining in the first half to cut Denison's deficit to 3-2.

Salisbury followed with a pair of goals over the next seven minutes of action, but fellow senior Molly Fischer scored an unassisted goal with 14:51 remaining before the half to make it a two-goal game, 5-3.

Trailing the Seagulls by five, 8-3, with 33 seconds to play before the break, Fischer gave the Big Red some positive momentum entering the half when she tallied her second goal of the game and cut the Salisbury lead to 8-4.

After the Seagulls took control of the early moments of the second half, the Big Red quickly rebounded from an 11-4 deficit when Jane Bailey fed Casey McTague for her first goal of the game and cut the DU deficit to six at the 25:08 mark. Less than a minute later, Farnham recorded her third goal of the contest, and with 23:24 to play, McTague entered the scoring column again, cutting Salisbury's lead back to four, 11-7, with momentum riding on the side of the Big Red.

Despite Denison's scoring burst in the second half, Salisbury scored four of the next five goals, including two from Riley Hartman to put the Seagulls ahead by seven, 15-8, with less than 11 minutes to play. Denison received a pair of late goals from freshman Maddie Morrell and McTague finished her hat-trick in the second half, but the Seagulls pulled away with three goals in the final four minutes as they handed the Big Red their second loss of the season, moving their overall record to 12-2. Salisbury improved to 19-0 with the victory and have advanced to Sunday's National Championship game where they will play No. 3 Tufts at 5 p.m.

Farnham and McTague tied for the team lead with three goals each, with Farnham also adding an assist, a caused turnover, and two ground balls. McTague finished with a team-best four draw controls. Fischer and Morrell followed with two goals each while Charlotte Godfrey added two ground balls, two caused turnovers, and two draw controls. Farnham, Lindsey Karsh, Isabelle Brocato, and Caroline O'Dea also finished with two GB's apiece.

O'Dea collected seven saves in goal for the Big Red over 33:37 of action while junior Maeve Caldwell followed with two saves in relief.

Denison ended their 2021 season with an overall record of 12-2, including a 5-0 mark in the NCAC West Division. The Big Red advanced to the program's first NCAA semifinal following their fifth-straight North Coast Athletic Conference Championship while extending their current conference winning streak to 43-consecutive games. Denison finished the year with six All-NCAC selections, including Liza Farnham as NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and Casey McTague as Midfielder of the Year. Head coach Amanda Daniels helped the Big Red reach their seventh-straight NCAA Tournament as she holds a current record of 99-35 (.739) during her eight seasons at Denison.