Scots Punch Ticket to NCAC Tourney

Ashley Parry
Ashley Parry

With both teams playing for the fourth and final spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, it was The College of Wooster's women's lacrosse team that responded in crunch time, as the Fighting Scots scored six unanswered goals during the latter parts of the second half to get past Oberlin College, 15-11, on Saturday afternoon at Oberlin, Ohio.

The Scots (5-7, 5-3 NCAC) will now look to continue their late-season surge when they travel to archrival Wittenberg University (12-2, 8-0 NCAC) for an NCAC Tournament semifinal game on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Wooster and Oberlin (8-5, 3-5 NCAC) played a back-and-forth first half, with the Scots coming out ahead 9-8 at the break, but the Yeowomen scored the first two goals of the second half to take a 10-9 lead with 24:26 to go.

It was a few minutes later when Wooster started its game-clinching scoring run, as it tallied six straight goals over the next 18:14 to seal the outcome.

Ellie Hudson-Heck got the run started by capitalizing on two free-position opportunities, giving Wooster back the lead at 11-10. Then Shelby Stone got in the mix, as she scored a trio of goals over just 6:20 to make it 14-10 with 11:33 remaining on the clock.

Finally, Hudson-Heck put another shot past the 'keeper at the 4:34 mark that gave Wooster a five-goal cushion, 15-10, which it rode to victory.

Stone paced the offense with five goals on the day, giving her 12 goals over her last three games – all Wooster wins. Hudson-Heck and Abby Szlachta each recorded hat tricks, while Ashley Parry chipped in two goals and an assist.

Defensively, Isabel Perman made 10 saves, with seven coming in the second half, while Alison Schlothauer made her presence felt with five draw controls, two caused turnovers, and two groundballs, along with a goal and an assist on the offensive end.