CLEVELAND, OH - Ohio Wesleyan (17-4) collected its third North Coast Athletic Conference tournament title with a 1-0 victory over Denison (11-7) at home on Saturday, Nov. 9. With the tournament title, the Battling Bishops earned the NCAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament.
 
Ohio Wesleyan will open the national tournament with a first-round game against SUNY Cortland. The No. 8 ranked Red Dragons earned the State University of New York Athletic Conference’s (SUNYAC) automatic bid onto the national stage. This will be the second meeting between Ohio Wesleyan and Cortland. The two teams first met in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, in which the Battling Bishops defeated the Red Dragons 2-1 in overtime. Ohio Wesleyan is making its 11th NCAA appearance, first since 2022, while Cortland will make its fourth-consecutive and 32nd overall appearance in the national tournament.
 
The OWU/Cortland first-round matchup will take place in Cortland, New York on Wednesday, November 13, at 2:00 p.m. The winner will head to Middlebury, Vermont to face the first-round winner of the Johns Hopkins (17-3) vs. Marywood (14-6) matchup on Saturday, November 16, at 2:00 p.m.

The Battling Bishops, led by 10-year head coach Brenda Semit, have gotten strong offensive performances this season from senior Colleen McMenamin (Chester, NJ/West Morris Regional), junior Olivia Danley (Del Rio, TX/Independence (VA)), sophomores Mattison Hyland (Brodheadsville, PA/Pleasant Valley) and Grace Ammon (Southborough, MA/Algonquin Regional) and first-year Mary Powers (Centreville, VA/Chantilly). Hyland has a team-leading 20 points (9 goals, 4 assist), while Ammon has posted a team-high nine assists and five goals, McMenamin owns nine goals and one assist, Powers has contributed six goals and four assists and Danley has netted seven goals. On the defensive side of the ball, senior goalkeeper Meg McCarthy (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) has corralled 20 saves and allowed just 13 goals in 862:15 minutes of action for a 0.90 goals against average, while classmate Gabi Dahllof (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) has recorded three defensive saves.