NCAC Weekly Release (5-14-12) NCAA Lacrosse Tournaments
2012 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament
2012 marked the third consecutive season that the North Coast Athletic Conference had three teams qualify for the NCAA Div. III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.
Denison (15-1) kept its record-setting season alive on Wednesday afternoon as senior Cory Couture (Coronado, CA/Coronado), the NCAC Player of the Year, drilled the game-winning goal 51 seconds into the second overtime to propel the Big Red to a 12-11 victory over Adrian in the first round.
On Saturday, May 12, Denison knocked off third-ranked Lynchburg, 10-5, in NCAA second-round action to advance to the Quarterfinal Round for the 12th time in program history. Sophomore face-off specialist Chip Phillips (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes), a first-team All-NCAC selection, came up big for DU as he won 14 of the game’s 20 face-off’s and provided five ground balls.
The Big Red will travel to Stevenson (Md.) on Wednesday, May 16 to take on the Mustangs at 8:00 p.m. The two teams have met four times in history with Stevenson holding a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series with two wins coming in Granville, Ohio and the other two in Owings Mills, Maryland. Denion’s lone loss this season was a 12-9 setback against the Mustangs on April 7th.
With 15 victories, Denison has matched the school’s single-season win total set in 1982. They have also assured that this season will be the most successful, in terms of winning percentage, in the 60-year history of the program.
Both Kenyon (10-5) and Ohio Wesleyan (11-5) saw their successful seasons come to a close in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament as the Lords fell to Dickinson, 15-6, and the Battling Bishops came up just shy against Gettysburg, 7-4.
2012 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament
Denison (15-5), which earned the NCAC’s automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Div. III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament, saw senior Molly Sberga (Portland, ME/Deering) score the lone goal in overtime as the Big Red punched their ticket to the second-round following an 11-10 victory over Adrian College on Wednesday evening in Michigan.
On Saturday, DU faced No. 3 Gettysburg, who entered the NCAA second round armed with the nation’s sixth-ranked defense and the 12th ranked offense in Division III. The Big Red countered with an offense that averaged nearly 15 goals-per-game and help opponents to under eight. Despite a spirited effort, Denison fell to the defending national champion Bullets, 17-7, but gained significant experience while playing deeper into the NCAA Tournament than ever before.
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