Wooster's 2021 women's lacrosse team

Spring 2021 NCAC Championships Central | 2021 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Central

This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team (8-1) earned the top seed from the North Coast Athletic Conference East Division, and with it, the right to host the 2021 NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship. The Fighting Scots will take on Denison University (8-1), which went undefeated in NCAC West Division play this spring, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 at John P. Papp Stadium. The winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Div. III Championships and will be named the 2021 NCAC champion. Denison is ranked ninth in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association Div. III poll.

Spectator Information: Per NCAC policies, all 2021 spring NCAC championship events will follow the host institution visitor/spectator policies, unless otherwise noted. At this time, visiting team spectators are not permitted at any NCAC campus. Wooster's policies that went into effect on April 2, 2021 are in effect for the NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship. Those policies include:

• NO VISITING TEAM SPECTATORS

• Each College of Wooster student-athlete on the team can invite a maximum of two (2) outside guests.

• Each Wooster team member must register their guests at the link provided to them by the athletic department by 4 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 30.

• All Wooster students in residence, Wooster faculty, and Wooster staff who participate in The College of Wooster's regular testing protocols may attend, must show their "Good to Go" badge for entry, and will be seated apart from other individuals and family groups to maintain social distance.

• Wooster's complete spectator policies can be found here.

Ticket Information: Per conference policy, there will be no ticket charges at any 2021 spring NCAC championship events that permit spectators.

Media Coverage: Live stats and live video will be available for Saturday's game. Additionally, fans can follow the women's lacrosse team's Twitter handle @COWWLAX for periodic updates and @WoosterSports for post-game updates. Fans can also view the NCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Central for additional information.

Wooster's Conference Championship History: Wooster's in search of its seventh NCAC championship and first since 2010. Wooster won its first NCAC title in 2002, and that kick-started a three-year stretch on conference titles. Wooster's other conference crowns came in 2007, 2009, and 2010. From 1993-2013, the winner of the NCAC Tournament was named the conference champion. From 2014-2019, the first-place team during the regular season was the NCAC champion.

A Look at the Last NCAC Tournament: Denison scored four times in the opening five minutes of the second half en route to a 13-10 win on May 5, 2019. Alumna Laura Papp's goal with 2:27 left in the first half tied the game at six. Papp was the catalyst behind Wooster's game-opening 3-0 stretch, first with a pair of assists, and then with a score at the 25:10 mark. Papp led all scorers – for both teams – with four goals, alumna Emma Lawrence won a team-high five draw controls, and alumna Megan Healy scooped up four groundballs to pair with three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Current senior Katie Shideler made 11 saves, 10 of which came in the opening half.

Wooster's NCAC Tournament History: Wooster's making its 14th appearance in the NCAC Championship game, where the Scots sport a 6-7 all-time record. Wooster's won the NCAC Tournament six times, with all six years coinciding with the Scots' conference titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010). Wooster's 10-3 all-time when playing in NCAC Tournament games at home, and the Scots hoisted the trophy on its home turf in 2004 and 2009.

"Oops!...I Did It Again" and Again, and Again, and…: Senior Alexa Mellis tied Wooster's single-game program record with an eight-goal outburst in Wooster's 22-13 win over Allegheny College on April 10. Mellis is the sixth Scot to net eight goals in a game, and the first since alumna Ellie Hudson-Heck did so at Whitman College in 2016. Mellis' 34 goals currently leads the team, and she's seeking to become just the third Scot to lead the team in goals all four years of a career since records started being kept for the program in 1985. Wooster lacrosse legend Meg Wood led the team in scoring from 1992-95 and Hudson-Heck did likewise from 2013-16. Entering the weekend, Mellis needs three goals to move into the program's all-time top-10.

Balanced Midfield Key to Scots Success: Wooster has three midfielders who are capable of winning draw controls in bunches in sophomore Hannah Shaw, senior Katie Harvey, and senior Miura Wiley. Entering the weekend, Shaw's 64 draws leads the trio, while Harvey (46) and Wiley (43) are second and third on the team. Shaw's 64 draws are the eighth-most in a single season in program history. Draws have been an officially-tracked NCAA statistic since 2000.

A Veteran Staple: Few 'keepers have anchored down Wooster's starting role all four years. In fact, senior Katie Shideler is just the third Scot (based on the saves leaders list) to do that since 1985. Nicki Hunt (2003-06) and Shawna Ferris (2010-13) are the other two. Entering the week, Shideler sports a career save percentage of 48 percent, and the senior has a 10.34 goals-against average. Shideler's 380 saves are the seventh-most in program history.