WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team scored four straight goals to tie Tuesday's North Coast Athletic Conference showdown with No. 22 Denison University at nine, but the Big Red outscored the Fighting Scots 6-1 in the fourth for the 15-10 win at John P. Papp Stadium.
Wooster (15-2, 5-1 NCAC) was playing for the outright NCAC title, which would have been a first for the program since 2010. Denison (11-4, 5-0 NCAC) clinched at least a share of the conference crown with Tuesday's win. Wooster, which is idle Saturday, will share the NCAC title with Denison should the Big Red lose against Wittenberg University (4-9, 0-4 NCAC) this weekend.
Senior Kaitlyn McBride scored the fourth of her team-high five goals on a free-position shot with 1:02 remaining in the third quarter that tied Tuesday's NCAC battle at nine. Prior to that, senior Kenzie Morris gained enough separation from a Denison defender to fire in a midrange wing shot that had Wooster within 9-6 at the 6:27 mark of the third.
Next, with junior draw control ace Lizzie Hardy temporarily sidelined with a yellow card, classmate Bella Woodbury stepped in to win the battle for the draw against Denison speedster Maddie Chase. After gaining possession back following Denison's Sydney Lavin sailing a free-position shot wide of cage, McBride scored to make it 9-7.
Wooster was within 9-8 when junior Brynne Snaguski was fouled inside the eight-meter fan and buried the free-position goal for her second score of the night. McBride won the draw control following Wooster climbing within one, and her free-position score came after a Chase foul.
Wooster junior Sidney O'Rourke won the opening draw control of the fourth, but a quick turnover by the Scots led to Caroline Brooks netting the go-ahead goal for the Big Red. Mary Martinson scored twice before Anna DeVuono capped off an impressive performance with goal seven of the night that made it 13-9 with 7:46 left in the game.
Wooster jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Morris found a wide-open Madelyn Noll, who just had Denison 'keeper Julianne Henigan to contend with, and the Scots' senior quickly won that battle on the Scot-up opportunity that made it 2-0 just past the opening stanza's midpoint. McBride joined the scoring party at 3:32, which upped Wooster's lead to 3-0.
Denison looked to work the ball inside on cuts early in the game, and Wooster's defense was ready for it. The Scots held the Big Red to just five shots in the first period. The lack of being able to connect with cutters hampered Denison to the tune of eight first-quarter turnovers and 14 for the opening half. However, Denison changed its approach in the second half, committing just two turnovers post-halftime.
McBride's five goals came on nine shots, and she had two draw controls. O'Rourke led Wooster with six draw controls, while Hardy's five draw controls made her the third Scot to surpass 100 in a season since the NCAA started recognizing draws as an official statistic in 2000. Morris moved into solo possession of fourth for most points in program history with a goal and an assist, sophomore Audrey Richardson had five saves, and O'Rourke led Wooster with three caused turnovers.
DeVuono needed just 10 shots to net the seven goals. Bridget Sheehy passed out four assists, cleaned up five groundballs, and caused three turnovers. Martinson led the Big Red with four draw controls.
Denison outshot Wooster 30-22 and had 23 groundballs to the Scots' 11. Denison was 16-of-18 on clears, while Wooster went 13-of-19.
Wooster, which clinched the No. 2 seed for next week's NCAC Tournament now awaits who it will play in the April 30 semifinal round. The NCAC will announce the tournament pairings and game times upon the conclusion of this weekend's conference contests.
