The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team is headed to the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship, as the Fighting Scots held off a late Kenyon College charge to top the Ladies 18-12 on Saturday at John P. Papp Stadium. With the win, Wooster's completed its NCAC East Division games with an unblemished 4-0 record and has earned the top seed within the division. The victor of the NCAC Championship game, which is tentatively set for Saturday, May 1, will win the NCAC title for the 2021 season. Complete details about NCAC Championships can be found on the NCAC Tournament Central webpage.

Senior Katie Shideler logged 13 saves, marking the 'keepers fifth double-digit save total of the year. Photo by Matt Dilyard.

The key stretch started with just under 10 minutes remaining. Kenyon (0-2, 0-2 NCAC East Division) pulled within 14-10 on Maya Fair's goal, which was a fourth-straight unanswered tally by the Ladies. The Ladies won the ensuing draw control before Wooster (5-1, 4-0 NCAC East Division) seniors Katie Shideler and Miura Wiley helped swing the momentum back in favor of the Scots. Shideler stopped Julia Losey's free-position shot, and not long after, Wiley caused a turnover with sophomore Clare Leithauser emerging with the groundball.

At the other end, senior Alexa Mellis netted her team-leading 25th goal of the season, and less than two minutes later, classmate Katie Harvey converted on a free-position try, which upped the Scots lead back to seven. Sophomore Jill Murray put the game out of reach with 3:10 remaining, as the Scots led by five at that juncture, and Shideler kept the Ladies from pulling any closer with a big save on Alex Tiatia's free-position shot inside the final two minutes.

Offensively, a pair of 5-0 runs propelled the Scots to the win. The first, which started with 8:13 left in the opening half, featured two Wiley goals, with Wooster opening up a 9-3 lead when Mellis tucked her second goal of the day into the cage with 2:03 to go in the stanza. The second was kick-started by back-to-back scores from senior Ashley Boersma, who assisted on the third. Harvey's strike with 14:17 remaining gave the Scots a 14-6 cushion.

Harvey and Mellis powered the offense with four goals apiece, with Boersma scoring three goals and assisting on two others. Wooster's balanced midfield was on display again, as sophomore Hannah Shaw (8), Harvey (7) and Wiley (6) controlled the majority of the draws, where the Scots finished with a 22-10 edge. Mellis' five groundballs marked the game high.

Shideler turned aside 13 Kenyon shots, and the senior now has five double-digit save performances on the year.

Tiatia's three goals led Kenyon, which also saw Emma Hutchison and Ella Murphy scoop up four groundballs apiece. Delaney Gallagher made 15 saves in goal.

Wooster finished with a 40-34 edge in shots, while Kenyon won the groundball battle 23-22.

Of note, Wooster finished a conference slate undefeated for the first time since 2009, and it's just the fourth time in program history the Scots went undefeated in NCAC play.

Next, Wooster hosts Ohio Wesleyan University (2-4) in a non-conference contest on Wednesday, April 21 at 6 p.m.