Field Hockey
Field Hockey: Big Red knocks off first place Kenyon in OT
Brittany Paquette followed with the second resulting in a 1-0 Denison victory.
Emily Marshall scored the first stroke-off goal.
Date: Oct. 2, 2007
Location: GRANVILLE, Ohio
In a match up of the first place and second place teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference, Kenyon and Denison played 100 minutes of nail bitting, scoreless field hockey. After playing two sudden death, overtime periods, the match went to a stroke-off where the Big Red prevailed 2-1 which resulted in a 1-0 victory for Denison.
Kenyon's Hannah McConnell started off the stroke-off with a shot against Denison goalie Halle Minshall (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights). Minshall, who has just entered the match for the stroke-off, got DU off to a strong start with a save. Denison senior Read Powel (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) followed with a shot that was saved by Kenyon goalie Karen Thompson.
Kenyon's next attempt was also stopped by Minshall and Denison took a 1-0 lead following a Emily Marshall (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) goal to the lower left corner. Kenyon's Maggie Gilligan missed and Denison took a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to a Brittany Paquette (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./University Liggett) goal that deflected into the back of the cage off Thompson's stick.
With the match on the line Kenyon's Holly Bacon kept their hopes alive with a goal to the left side of the cage. Denison's Molly Nissi (Groton, Mass./Holderness School) missed the next attempt but another save by Minshall off a Claire Champman shot locked up the victory for the Big Red.
Despite the scoreless tie through two halves and two overtime periods both teams had opportunities to score. There were 20 total shots attempted by the two teams and there were 19 penalty corners attempted.
Denison had an excellent opportunity five minutes into the second half when Lauren Keny (Bexley, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) raced down the field on a breakaway only to have her shot attempt saved. With just under four minutes left in the second half Denison took three penalty corners with a shot by Powel nearly finding the back of the cage at one point.
Powel led Denison with four shots and Kenyon was paced by Holly Bacon's four shots. Thompson posted four saves for the Ladies while Carter Hartung (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) made five saves in the cage for the Big Red.
Denison improves to 5-6 overall and 4-2 in the NCAC while Kenyon drops to 6-5 and 5-2 in conference play. The Big Red will travel to Washington & Jefferson on Friday for a non-league tilt with the Presidents. They will host Oberlin College on Saturday (Oct. 6) under the lights at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium. The start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.