GRANVILLE, Ohio – Denison University won its third straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Field Hockey Tournament title on Saturday, edging Kenyon College 2-1.
 
The Big Red improved to 16-3 and secured the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament while Kenyon fell to 15-4.
 
Denison got all the scoring it needed with two first-half goals from Charlotte Happel. A little more than six minutes into the first quarter, Happel scored off an AC Veith penalty corner from the right side.
 
Despite the early deficit, Kenyon had its chances. The Ladies attained four penalty corners of their own but attempts from Tara Shetty and Carolyn Herbosa were either wide or blocked.
 
After the first period, the Big Red doubled their lead. At the 17:17 mark, Charlotte Godfrey fed Happel from atop the shooting circle and Happel finished from the left side. That goal marked just the second time all season that the Ladies' defense had yielded multiple scores.
 
Over the remainder of the second stanza, Lydia Turk and Hannah Sklar had on-target looks but were denied by Teya Adams.
 
After halftime, the scored remained 2-0 Denison as standout goalie Payton Doan notched two saves for the Ladies. In the fourth, Kenyon inched closer. With less than nine minutes left, Emma Hyer assisted Sarah Metzmaier off a penalty corner. Kenyon had one more shot, another from Metzmaier, with 4:17 remaining, but that attempt went wide.
 
The Ladies never found another shot after that. By game's end, Kenyon had a sizeable advantage in penalty corners (8-1) and a plus-two shots lead (8-6). Sklar, Paulina Mendez and Olivia O'Connell were also named to the all-tournament team.