Nina Dine

The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team took a 9-6 lead with 13:28 remaining in regulation, but Denison University chipped away and closed out the game on a 4-0 run to shock the Fighting Scots 10-9 in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at Granville, Ohio.

The Scots (10-6) trailed 4-3 midway through the first half, but three unassisted goals during a ten-minute span from Katie Smart, Cassie Greenbaum, and Eileen Barrer gave Wooster a sudden 6-4 lead. With just 24 seconds left before halftime, Clare Nelson-Johnson scored on an assist from Smart that pushed the cushion to 7-4, but then Denison's (13-4) Katherine Palms beat the 'keeper at the buzzer to make it 7-5 at the break.

About seven minutes into the second half, Denison crept back within one (7-6) when Phoebe Myhrum found the back of the net, but Wooster went back to work. The Scots got key goals from Nina Dine, and a fourth from Greenbaum, to take the previously mentioned 9-6 lead with 13:28 to go.

At that juncture, things began to fall apart, as Carly Tschantz scored just 12 seconds after Greenbaum to make it 9-7. Then during a sudden 3:34 spurt, Denison hung three quick goals on Wooster, including one by Jenny Strathern with 4:36 on the clock that gave the Big Red its 10-9 advantage.

The Scots earned a free-position shot at the 2:40 mark, but Grace Bodenmann made the biggest of her six saves of the day to keep Wooster at bay.

Statistically, Greenbaum scored a career-high four goals, and Nelson-Johnson added a goal and three assists.

Dine scored just once, but it was a historic one, as it gave the standout senior an even 200 points (144 goals, 56 assists) for her career. She becomes just the sixth player in Wooster history to reach that milestone.

Madison Carey also scored a goal in the setback, giving her 74 points (53 goals, 21 asssits), which ties her with Beth Hemminger in 2001 for the third-most points in a single season in program history.