DELAWARE, Ohio (November 4, 2023) – The second-seeded Denison University field hockey team took down top-seeded and undefeated Ohio Wesleyan University by a final score of 1-0 in overtime to win the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon inside OWU's Shelby Stadium. It was the league-leading fifth overall NCAC Tournament title for the Big Red since 2011.

With a record of 13-5 overall, Denison receives the NCAC's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III National Tournament while OWU suffers its first loss of the season (17-1) and saw its streak of 14 consecutive shutouts come to an end.

With just over three minutes remaining in the first overtime period, a shot by Nina Casingal was saved by OWU's Meg McCarthy, but after a scrum for the ball, it went out to Emma Gebhart just inside the top of the circle, who sent a reverse chip shot over the head of McCarthy and the rest of the Battling Bishops' defense and into the goal. It was the ninth goal as a freshman for Gebhart.

Denison was outshot 6-0 in the first half and killed five OWU penalty corners, and then the first shot of the game for the Big Red came just before the start of the final minute of the third quarter when an attempt by Gebhart was saved by McCarthy.

Then in the fourth quarter, Denison got its first two penalty corners of the game in the 52nd minute before a shot by Grace Lock was saved by McCarthy just one minute later.

Lock had made a defensive save on the last of five first-quarter shots for the Bishops.

Tabitha Chandler ended the fourth quarter by jumping a pass by the Bishops and then firing back-to-back shots in the 58th minute that resulted in a save for McCarthy and a defensive save for OWU, setting the stage for overtime and giving the Big Red some momentum heading into the extra period.

In overtime, it was a 4-1 shot advantage for the Big Red as back-to-back attempts by Katherine Flanagan were both saved by McCarthy in the opening two minutes of the period.

Then after the fourth save of the game by Athena Joannou in the 64th minute and back-to-back penalty corner kills for the Big Red defense in the 65th and 66th minutes, it all led to the heroics by Gebhart in the 67th minute.

In all, Denison was outshot 15-8 but led 8-5 in shots on goal and was able to stave off 11 OWU penalty corners.

After scoring the game-winning goal in the championship, Gebhart was named to the NCAC All-Tournament Team and was joined by defenders Rachel Gilio and Cary Mauck, as well as Chandler, who helped turn the tide for the Big Red late in regulation. In addition, Flanagan was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player after notching both a goal and an assist in Denison's 2-0 semifinal win over DePauw University on Wednesday and then firing two early overtime shots in the championship on Saturday.

The NCAA will announce the field for this year's tournament at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 5, on NCAA.com.