DELAWARE, Ohio – With one swing of the stick, senior Hannah Sklar propelled the Kenyon College field hockey team into the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament final. Her goal in overtime Wednesday gave Kenyon a 2-1 victory against Ohio Wesleyan University in the tournament's semifinal round.

With the teams deadlocked at one goal apiece, overtime ensued. Ohio Wesleyan, the tournament's No. 2-seeded team, got the first big chance of the extra session. About four-and-a-half minutes into play, the Battling Bishops earned a penalty corner. They managed to get a shot off, but Kenyon freshman goalkeeper Payton Doan made the save.

At the 5:45 mark of overtime, No. 3-seeded Kenyon got an opportunity by drawing a penalty corner of its own. Sophomore Isabella Meneguzzi inserted a slow roller to Sklar at the top of the circle. Sklar stepped back to collect it over the line. She then looked up to survey the defense, slid to her right and slammed the game-winner into the left side of the Ohio Wesleyan cage. It was her fifth goal of the season and her third in the team's last five games.

The victory improved Kenyon's overall record to 15-3, but more importantly, it put the Ladies in the NCAC Tournament final against Denison University. That final game will be played Saturday at Denison, the tournament's top-seeded team.   

As was the case in two previous meetings this year, the battle between Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan was a close one. The teams split 1-0 home wins during the regular season. Wednesday, Ohio Wesleyan edged Kenyon in shots 12-11 and Kenyon edged Ohio Wesleyan in penalty corners 8-7.

The Ladies were the first to score. About seven minutes into play, sophomore Sarah Metzmaier backhanded a ball that popped into the air. Junior Olivia O'Connell corralled the loose ball and rang up what was her third goal of the season. The assist was Metzmaier's third.

That 1-0 lead held up through halftime and into the early moments of the third quarter. At the 5:32 mark of the third, Ohio Wesleyan tallied the equalizer. After gathering pass in the middle of the zone, Ashley Barno turned and slipped her shot into the left side of the Kenyon cage.

That set the stage for a wild, but scoreless, fourth quarter. At the beginning of the period, Ohio Wesleyan earned six consecutive penalty corners and produced a total of nine shots off those corners. One of those shots was sent wide, Kenyon defenders blocked two, and Doan made saves on the other six.

With less than two minutes left in regulation, Kenyon responded by earning four penalty corners, as well as a penalty stroke. Ohio Wesleyan had defensive saves on two of those corners and blocked shots on the other two. At the 58:33 mark, Battling Bishops goalkeeper Marie Overing made a save on Kenyon's penalty stroke.

Overing ended up making just the one save for Ohio Wesleyan, which ended its season with a 13-4 record. At the other end of the field, Doan was a difference-maker, saving seven shots for Kenyon.