Laura Papp

Alexa Mellis

This Weekend's Outlook: The third-seeded College of Wooster women's lacrosse team (12-3) returns to the North Coast Athletic Conference championship game for the 12th time in program history in a matchup with top-seeded Denison University (15-2) on Saturday, May 5 at 1 p.m. 

Media Coverage: Live stats and live video will be available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/denison/. Additionally, fans can follow the women's lacrosse team's Twitter handle @COWWLAX for periodic updates and @WoosterSports for post-game updates. Also, fans can visit the NCAC Championships Central homepage for additional information.

Ticket Information: Ticket prices are set by the conference office and are $7 for adults, and $3 for children 18-years-old and under. College of Wooster students are admitted free of charge but must present a student identification card. Additionally, NCAC guest passes and lifetime passes are valid for complimentary admission at the NCAC Tournament.

Wednesday's Recap: Wooster defeated second-seeded Oberlin College 14-11 at Oberlin, Ohio in a game that the Fighting Scots never trailed. Wooster totaled 32 shots while forcing 11 turnovers and outpacing the Yeowomen (10-6), who defeated the Scots 19-7 in the regular season, 21-9 in groundballs. First-year Ashley Boersma (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) provided a season-high three goals, as did juniors Laura Papp (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) and Megan Healy (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills), while junior Emma Lawrence (Wilbraham, Mass./Williston-Northhampton) came down with two goals, one assist, five groundballs, four caused turnovers, and two draw controls.

Wooster's NCAC Tournament History: Under the helm of 13-year head coach Elizabeth Ford, the Scots have won the NCAC Tournament three times, most recently in 2010, and have twice been to the title game since then. Ford enters Saturday's game with a career record of 144-65-1 (.686) at Wooster and a 10-8 mark in conference tournament play. The Scots are 5-8 all-time versus the Big Red in postseason play, with Denison most recently taking down the Scots in the 2016 semifinals. Saturday's game marks a rematch of the 2011 championship, when top-seeded Denison defeated third-seeded Wooster 10-9 at Granville, Ohio. Wooster heads to Granville with a 23-17 record all-time in conference tournament play and a 7-7 record on the road.

A Look-Back at this Year's Regular-Season Meeting: The Big Red defeated Wooster 20-6 in Granville on April 14. The Scots succumbed to a slow start, going down 14-2 at the break before scoring four second-half goals from four different student-athletes, including three in the final eight minutes. Senior Michaela Lawrence (Portland, Ore./St. Mary's Academy) totaled five draw controls and junior Emma Lawrence tallied an assist and a goal.

Streaking: Wooster enters Saturday on a six-game win streak, marking its third six-plus win streak in the last four seasons. The Scots have totaled 18+ goals in five of the last six games and have outscored their competition 108-53, including a 60-22 edge in the first half. Papp leads the team with 14 goals during the span. 

Healy's Career Year Continues: Healy showed up in a big way on Wednesday, garnering three goals, one assist, and six draw controls as an anchor in Wooster's transition effort. The first-team all-conference selection and second-team all-region honoree has continued to impact nearly every phase of the game for the Scots in 2018. The junior leads the league with 42 caused turnovers and 68 groundballs while boasting 97 draw controls, another top-five mark in the league. In fact, Healy's groundball and draw control totals mark single-season program records while her 42 caused turnovers remain five shy of Krista Klocke's record-setting 47 set back in 2002. Career-wise, Healy now ranks fifth all-time in career draw controls (158) and fourth in caused turnovers (102), while her 154 remains sixth-most and only 34 back of all-time leader Miriam Esber ('02).

First-Year Production: Boersma scored the first goal of the game on Wednesday, seemingly setting the tone early for the Scots' biggest win of the season. Classmate Alexa Mellis (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) currently leads the team with 34 points and ranks third in points (41) and could become the first Scot newcomer to lead the team in goals since Ellie Hudson-Heck ('16) did so in 2013. Including goalkeeper Katie Shideler (Gibsonia, Pa./North Allegheny), four first-years have started each of the last six games, with Madison Bescak (Berlin, Md./Worcester Prep) earning a spot in the starting rotation as a defender, highlighted by 10 groundballs and four caused turnovers during the Scots' winning streak.

Ender's 100th Goal: Senior Helena Enders (Lake Oswego, Ore./St. Mary's Academy) capped her John P. Papp regular-season playing experience by becoming the 23rd player in program history to reach 100 career goals during Wooster's key 19-14 win over Allegheny. The Pacific Northwest native enters Saturday's game with 28 goals and a team-high 17 assists.

Efficient Play: This season, Wooster has scored 234 goals on 446 total shots for an overall scoring percentage of 52.5 percent, over three percentage points higher than the next-closest NCAC team. On the other end, the Scots' 287 turnovers are the lowest total in the league. Additionally, Wooster's goals-against average of 10.40 ranks third-lowest conference-wide.