2021 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Champions: Denison University
| Championship: Saturday, May 1 |
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Final: Denison 14, Wooster 13 - Boxscore
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NCAC Championship Game
No. 9-ranked Denison (9-1) captured the 2021 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship, 14-13, over Wooster (8-2) on Saturday, May 1. The conference title is Denison's fifth consecutive and league-leading 22nd overall.
Wooster began the championship game up 2-0 with goals from seniors Alexa Mellis (Wexford, PA/Pine-Richland) and Miura Wiley (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire Academy). Denison found some footing and rallied back to take a 3-2 lead at the 11:11 mark of the first half on a goal by freshman Maddie Morrell (Columbus, OH/Pickerington Central). The Big Red continued to hold a lead into halftime, up 7-5. Denison came out of the break and made consecutive goals by senior Molly Fischer (Barrington, RI/Moses Brown) and sophomore Ryann Yospa (Baltimore MD/McDonogh), pushing the lead to 9-5. Wooster was able to claw back from the four-goal deficit, cutting Denison's lead in half, 13-11, at the 9:32 mark of the second half after another goal from Mellis. The game was scoreless over the next eight minutes until Mellis tallied her team-high fourth goal of the game, getting the Fighting Scots to within one goal, 13-12. Wooster successfully won the ensuing possesion and ran down the field to tie the game at 13 on an Ashley Boersma (Ada, MI/Forest Hills Northern) goal with 29 seconds remaining. However, Denison had the final possession and senior Liza Farnham (Barrington, RI/Moses Brown) played hero, running down the field in the final seconds to find the back of the net. The goal was Franham's second of the game and 30th of the season.
Denison sophomore goalkeeper Caroline O'Dea (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) was named the tournament game's MVP. She ended the day with nine saves on 22 shots faced. The Big Red was led in scoring by Fischer (four goals), while four additional players tallied two goals apiece, including Farnham, Morrell, Yospa and Emma Repke (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes).
As NCAC champions, Denison has earned the league's automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship. The NCAA Division III bracket will be revealed on Monday, May 3 at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.
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Denison & Wooster to Compete in NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship
Wooster and Denison have earned the top seeds from the East and West Divisions, respectively. As the top seeds of each division, the Fighting Scots and Big Red advance to the 2021 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship game.
Wooster arrives at the conference title game after compiling a perfect 4-0 East record, while Dension earned the No. 1 seed in the West with an unblemished 5-0 divisional record. The two teams met up once during the regular season for a non-conference game on Saturday, March 20, in which the Big Red captured a 22-9 victory over the Fighting Scots.
The championship game will be hosted by Wooster and is tentatively set for Saturday, May 1 at 1:00 p.m. The winner of the championship will earn the conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
Denison leads the way with 21 NCAC Championship titles (1985-94, '96, 1999-01, '06, '11, '12, 2016-19), followed by Wooster with six (2002-04, '07, '09, '10), Oberlin with three (1995, '97, '98), Ohio Wesleyan (2005, '08) and Wittenberg (2014, '15) with two each and Kenyon with one (2013).
Spectator Policy
All NCAC championship events will be conducted using the respective campus visitors' policies; at this time, visiting team spectators are not permitted at any NCAC campus. Masking and social distancing policies are also in effect. Failure to comply with protocols will result in removal from campus.
Note: Conference policy will determine the championship field if team availability changes due to COVID 19 protocols prior to the championship game.
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2021 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Format
The top seeds from the East and West Divisions will advance to a championship game, which will be hosted by the East Divisional top seed, unless the two schools agree to a change to accommodate facility or campus situations.
Spectators will be permitted according to the host institution's campus visitors' policy.
The winner of the championship will also earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
2021 NCAC Divisions:
East – Allegheny, Kenyon, Wooster
West – Denison, DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg