Denison Field Hockey Opens NCAA Tourney With Salisbury

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Denison (12-6) collected its sixth North Coast Athletic Conference tournament title with a 2-1 overtime victory over Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio, on Saturday, November 8. With the tournament title, the Big Red earned the NCAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament.
 
Denison will open the national tournament with a first-round game against Salisbury (17-2). The No. 5-ranked Sea Gulls earned the State University of New York Athletic Conference’s (SUNYAC) automatic bid onto the national stage. This will be the 12th meeting between Denison and Salisbury. The Sea Gulls have won all 11 matchups with the last meeting happening in 2008. Denison is making its 16th NCAA appearance, first since 2023, while Salisbury will make its 31st-consecutive  and 40th overall appearance and owns five national titles (1986, 2003, 04’, 05’, 09’).
 
The Denison/Salisbury first-round matchup will take place in Salisbury, Maryland, on Wednesday, November 12, at 4:00 p.m. The winner will head to Christopher Newport in Newport News, Virginia, on Saturday-Sunday, November 15-16, to compete in the second and third rounds. The second round matchup will feature the Big Red/Sea Gulls winner versus the first-round winner between Dickinson (18-3) and St. Mary’s (MD) (13-5). The remaining four teams out of the third round will meet at Robin L. Sheppard Field in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 21 and 23 for the semifinals and national championship game hosted by Trinity.
 
The Big Red, led by 24-year head coach P.J. Soteriades, have gotten strong offensive performances this season from junior Emma Gebhart (Carlisle, MA/Concord Carlisle) and first-year Lulu Keil (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest). Gebhart has a team-leading 22 goals and nine assists for 53 points, while Keil has posted the second-most goals and assists for the Big Red with 11 scores and five helpers. On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore goalkeeper Therese Lucian (Mickleton, NJ/Tower Hill School (DE)) has corralled 56 saves and allowed just 17 goals in 1090:05 minutes of action for a 0.94 goals against average, while a trio of Denison defenders have recorded two defensive saves including senior Helen Breen (Shaker Heights, OH/Hathaway Brown School), sophomore Megan Edwards (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) and senior Bella Thoms (Lake Forest, IL/Loyola Academy).
 
 

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