2013 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament

2013 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Champions: Kenyon College

Semifinals: Thursday, May 2	Championship: Saturday, May 4
#4 Wooster 14, #1 Wittenberg 13 (2-OT) - Boxscore	Kenyon 14, Wooster 9 - Boxscore
#2 Kenyon 12, #3 Denison 8 - Boxscore	Kenyon 14, Wooster 9 - Boxscore

All-Tournament Team

Katie Warner, WIT
Logan Warye, WIT
Molly Chapman, DEN
Rachel Pregel, DEN
Alison Schlothauer, WOO
Cassie Greenbaum, WOO
Abby Szlachta, WOO
Shelby Stone, WOO
Margaret Armstrong, KEN
Meredith Bentsen, KEN
Leah Sack, KEN
Emily Nichols, KEN

Semifinal Recaps:

Fourth-seeded Wooster (5-3, 13-4) upset top-seeded Wittenberg (8-0, 12-4), 14-13, in double overtime to advance the Fighting Scots to the championship game of the 2013 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament. With the score tied at 13-13 with 3:31 left in the second overtime, Wooster freshman Ellie Hudson-Heck (Medina, OH/Medina) ripped a free position shot past Wittenberg goalie Katie Bondy (Westerville, OH/South) to secure the Scots' spot in the championship game for the first time since the 2011 season. Hudson-Heck also provided last-second heroics for Wooster in regulation as she netted a free position shot with two seconds remaining on the clock to send the game into extra time. Wittenberg jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first minute of the game, and, after two Wooster goals, led 3-2 at the 25:29 mark. After back-to-back goals from Wittenberg sophomore Logan Warye (Maineville, OH/Kings) at the 23:50 and 23:12 marks, respectively, the two squads traded goals over the final 20 minutes of the first half to give the Tigers an 8-6 lead at intermission. Wooster stormed out of the locker room by scoring six of the first eight goals in the second half to take an 11-10 lead with 16:21 left in regulation. Wittenberg tied the game at 11 on a goal from Warye at the 11:10 mark and jumped ahead, 12-11, with 1:46 left on a tally from junior Nicolette Lyons (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest). However, Hudson-Heck took matters into her own hand by sending the match into overtime with her last second goal in regulation, before netting the Scots' lone goal in the first overtime and tallying the game-winner in the second overtime session. Hudson-Heck led the way for Wooster with six goals on 13 shot attempts and seven ground balls, while senior net-minder Shawna Ferris (Boxborough, MA/Acton-Boxborough) finished the contest with 14 saves on 33 total shot attempts. Warye led all scorers in the game with seven goals, while Bondy hauled in eight saves in for the Tigers.

Kenyon (7-1, 11-2), the second seed in the tournament, secured a 12-8 semifinal victory over third-seeded Denison (6-2, 13-2) on Thursday night in Gambier, Ohio and has advanced to the championship game of the NCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament. Kenyon senior Emily Nichols (Caldwell, NJ/Caldwell) netted the first two goals for the Ladies, then freshman Ansen Burr (Portland, OR/Lincoln) made it a 4-1 lead over the Big Red at the 23:26 mark in the first half. However, Denison responded by scoring six of the final eight goals in the half, including an unassisted goal from freshman Lizzy Pellicane (Short Hills, NJ/Morristown-Beard) with just 43 seconds remaining to give the Big Red a 7-6 lead at halftime. The Ladies opened the second half strong with four-straight goals, including the eventual game-winner from Nichols at the 21:54 mark to take a 10-7 lead. Denison would pull within two, 10-8, with a goal from sophomore Molly Chapman (Greenwich, CT/Millbrook School); however, Kenyon sealed the game with two goals in just over three minutes starting with junior Alex Blair (Darien, CT/Darien) who netted her second with 7:51 remaining in the contest. Nichols lead the Ladies on the evening with four goals and an assist, while Meredith Bentsen (Washington, DC/St. Stephen's/St. Agnes) corralled eight saves in goal for Kenyon. Freshman Carol Allen (Nashville, TN/Ensworth) led the way for the Big Red with three goals, while Grace Bodenmann (Pelham Manor, NY/Pelham Memorial) held her own in the cage by securing six saves.

Tournament Notes: Wittenberg (7-0, 11-3) has claimed the top seed in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament, which begins with semifinal match-ups on Thursday. The Tigers entertain fourth-seeded Wooster (5-3, 12-4) at 6:30 PM, while second-seeded Kenyon (7-1, 11-2) welcomes third-seeded Denison (6-2, 13-2), at 5:00 PM. The championship game will be held on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 PM at the site of the highest remaining seed to emerge from the semifinal round. The tournament winner receives both the NCAC Championship and the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Div. III Tournament.

Denison is the defending tournament champion and leads the way with 17 NCAC titles all-time (1985-1994, ‘96, 1999-’01, ‘06, ‘11-’12), followed by Wooster with six (2002-04, ‘07, ‘09, ‘10), Oberlin with three (1995, ‘97-’98) and Ohio Wesleyan with two (‘05, ‘08).