The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team will play for the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship when the Battling Bishops host Denison at noon on Saturday, November 9th at Selby Stadium.
Ohio Wesleyan was the No. 1 seed going into the tournament and decisively made it clear why with a 4-0 win over DePauw, which was their only conference loss of the season. The Bishops shared the NCAC regular season championship with a 9-1 record in conference play, their second consecutive league title, and their third in 5 seasons. Ohio Wesleyan is making its fifth consecutive NCAC tournament appearance where they hope to win it all after collecting two of the last three NCAC tournament titles.
Photo by Paul Vernon | Ohio Wesleyan Athletics
In the semi-final match on November 6, the Bishops rallied past DePauw 4-0 with senior Colleen McMenamin scoring 2 second-half goals to win and give them the chance to compete for another title. Denison advanced with a 1-0 overtime winner over third-seeded Wittenberg, a similar scoreline to when the Bishops beat them earlier in the season 1-0.
The game against DePauw saw a scoreless first quarter before junior Avery Slucher got the Bishops on the board with a shot in front of the goal off a corner. Senior Zoë Nelson collected the ball and passed it over to Slucher, who found the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage. 41 seconds into the second half, sophomore Mattison Hyland added to the Bishops' scoreline before McMenamin rounded out the scoring with the third and fourth goals.
McMenamin leads the Ohio Wesleyan offense with nine goals on the season, followed by Hyland with eight goals. Junior Alyssa Markell, freshman Mary Powers, and sophomore Brogan Heilig each have six goals this season. Sophomore Grace Ammon notched five goals and leads the league with nine assists.
Senior goalkeepers Meg McCarthy and Brynn Schlesinger have combined to start all 20 games in the Bishop cage. McCarthy posted seven shutouts, Schlesinger one, and both have been part of four additional shutouts this year. The Ohio Wesleyan defense shared the NCAA Division III lead with 11 shutouts on the season.
Denison is not an easy challenge for the Bishops with Emma Gebhart leading the NCAC in goals with 15. She is also tied for third in assists with five and has a conference-best 35 points. Attackers Reilly Desmond and Lila Smith each have nine goals to their name. The Bishop's defense will have to lock down to keep them from getting past, and onto the board.
Saturday's game will mark the third time in the last four years that Ohio Wesleyan and Denison have met in the NCAC tournament championship game. The teams have traded overtime wins on the road in the previous two meetings. Ohio Wesleyan collected the win by a 2-1 count in 2021 in Granville and Denison came back with a 1-0 decision last year at Selby Stadium. The teams also met in the semifinals of the 2022 tournament, with Ohio Wesleyan taking a 1-0 victory at Selby Stadium before going on to win the whole tournament against DePauw in double overtime.
The winner of Saturday's game will receive the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament, scheduled to begin next week.
Ohio Wesleyan made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament in 2021 and 2022. 2021 marked the first time they made the tournament since 1995 and only the ninth trip overall. During their 2021 campaign, the Bishops made it to the second round before falling to Rowan. In 2022, they lost to Washington & Lee in the first round. Ohio Wesleyan hopes to return to the NCAA tournament after missing out last year and make it farther than before.
Ticket prices for NCAC tournament games are $7 for adults and $3 for children 18 and under. Students bearing a valid ID from an NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge. There will be no re-entry, and no containers are permitted.
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