Wynn Boehmcke

Shelby Stone

WOOSTER, Ohio – Shelby Stone scored a career-high six goals and won a critical draw control late, which allowed The College of Wooster to survive a rally by Denison University and win 13-12 on Wednesday night at John P. Papp Stadium, as the Fighting Scots remain undefeated in North Coast Athletic Conference play.

Wooster (9-2, 4-0 NCAC) appeared to be comfortably ahead at 12-7 midway through the second half, however, the league's preseason favorite mounted a comeback bid. Denison (4-6, 1-2 NCAC) steadily strung together four unanswered scores to pull within one with 3:41 remaining.

The Fighting Scots won the ensuing draw, which was a key factor throughout the game as they finished with a 20-7 advantage, and Stone weaved her way through the defense for a much-needed goal just 24 seconds later.

The Big Red's Whitney Powell misfired on one free-position shot with a little over two minutes left, but she converted another such opportunity to make it a one-goal game again with 1:15 on the clock.

On the important draw control that followed, Stone used her quickness to grab the ball out of the air and get free down the right sideline, then Wooster was able to pass the ball around the perimeter and nearly run off the entire clock. Denison did force a late turnover, but with less than 10 seconds to play, all it could do was desperately whip the ball 50 yards up the field where the Scots' Wynn Boehmcke collected the groundball to seal the outcome.

Wooster scored twice within the opening two minutes, and after it was tied 4-4, the hosts closed the first half on a 5-0 run, with three of Stone's goals coming during that 12:59 stretch.

Leading 9-4 at the break, the Scots twice gained six-goal margins of 10-4 and 11-5.

The Big Red accounted for six of the next seven tallies to set up the exciting finish.

Stone, who was coming off a career-best nine points (5 goals, 4 assists) on Saturday, scored her six goals on just nine shot attempts and she added five draw controls.

Ellie Hudson-Heck played a key role in the win with a game-high seven draw controls and a hat trick, while Abby Szlachta overcame an injury during the warm-up to contribute one goal and one assist. Matching Szlachta's production were Ashley Parry and Molly Sennett.

On the defensive half, Boehmcke led the way with four caused turnovers and six groundballs while shadowing Denison's top player, and Isabel Perman made six saves.

The Big Red's Claire Ludlow had a hat trick plus two assists.

Wooster faces another challenge on Saturday when Oberlin College (8-2, 2-1 NCAC) comes in for a visit to Papp Stadium at 3 p.m.