GAMBIER – In Saturday’s wild championship game that featured an overload of momentum swings, the Kenyon College women’s lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal first-half deficit to win the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament title by outlasting the Denison University Big Red, 12-10.
Along with the tournament title comes an automatic berth for the Ladies in the NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets under way Saturday, May 14. The Ladies will learn who their opponent will be and where they are playing when the NCAA reveals that information during its online selection show Monday morning.
From the start Saturday, it didn’t appear the Ladies could keep pace with the Big Red. The Denison defense blanketed the Kenyon attack and allowed just five first-half shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Denison offense got two goals from Casey McTague and two more from two other players to take a commanding 4-0 lead deep into the second quarter of play.
It wasn’t until there was just 2:48 left in the half that Kenyon finally tallied its first goal. That score came courtesy of Caroline O’Neil, who got the Ladies into the break facing a 4-1 deficit.
In the third quarter, the momentum flipped in a big way. The Ladies' offense made the appropriate adjustments and blitzed Denison with seven straight scores to take an 8-5 lead into the fourth quarter. During that barrage, Mallory Brophy and Emma Hutchison scored twice, while O’Neil, Ella Murphy and Maddie Garner accounted for the other three Kenyon goals.
The Big Red regrouped and countered with three straight goals to open the fourth quarter. Maddie Morrell scored two of those three and tied the game up at 8-8 with 10:56 remaining.
Over the game’s last eight minutes, Brophy, a first-year player, put the Ladies on her back to secure the victory. Within a 40-second clip, she scored twice to push Kenyon ahead 10-8. Denison got one back, but Murphy retaliated and, with 19 seconds remaining, Brophy put the final nail in the coffin.
Brophy finished with a team-high five goals and was named the NCAC All-Tournament Team’s Most Valuable Player. Murphy and O’Neil both finished with two goals and found spots on the All-Tournament Team, as well. Alex Tiatia and goalkeeper Nola Garand, who made nine saves against the Big Red, were also included among the All-Tournament Team selections.
The tournament title was the Ladies’ second overall and first since 2013. It stopped a string of seven consecutive titles won by Denison. The win moved Kenyon’s record to 15-1, tying the program record for victories in a single-season. It also extended the Ladies’ win streak to 13 games, a new program record.
Denison, which lost to Kenyon, 8-6, during the regular season, fell to 11-6 with Saturday’s loss.
