GRANVILLE, Ohio –Two goals scored by freshman Hannah Sklar propelled the Kenyon College field hockey team past Denison University and to a 2-1 overtime win in Wednesday's semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.

The victory boosted the Ladies into the NCAC tournament's final game for the fourth consecutive season. The title game will take place 2 p.m. Saturday at DePauw University. DePauw, the tournament's top-seeded team, knocked out Wittenberg University, 5-2 in Wednesday's other NCAC semifinal contest.

Kenyon (13-6) entered the semifinal round as the underdog. The Ladies are the No. 3 seed in the tournament and had twice been defeated in the regular season by Denison, the tournament's No. 2-seeded squad.

As expected, defense prevailed in this battle of rivals. A total of just seven shots were taken by each team. It was Kenyon's fifth shot, however, that took the Big Red by surprise. In the game's 33rd minute, sophomore Lynne Cullen fired a shot that was saved by Denison goalkeeper Ellen Westfall. The rebound off that save came out to Sklar, who popped it over the line, giving the Ladies a 1-0 advantage.


The score remained that way for nearly another 34 minutes of play. Just when it looked like Kenyon would escape with a shutout victory, Denison evened things up with less than four minutes left in regulation. Off a restart, Denison's Lucy Pearsall sent a pass to the right wing for Abby Martone. Martone loaded up and one-timed it into the Kenyon cage.

That sent the game to overtime, where it took Sklar just another 4:47 to seal the deal. Off a Kenyon penalty corner, junior Shannon Hart uncorked a shot. As it traveled toward the cage, Sklar redirected it into the lower left corner. The two goals were Sklar's third and fourth of the season.

Over the last four seasons, including this one, the Ladies have had the Big Red's number in the postseason, defeating them in the semifinals twice (2013, 2016) and from the finals once (2014).

The loss ended Denison's season with a 14-5 record.