SALEM, Virginia – Eighth-place women’s lacrosse Denison wrapped up her national storytelling tournament on Saturday night as the Big Red fell to 4th at Salisbury University, 20-10, in the lacrosse championship semifinals 2021 NCAA Division III Women at Donald J. Kerr Stadium on the Roanoke College campus in Salem, Virginia.

Playing in their first Final Four in program history, the Big Reds leaned on their senior management early in the first half when Liza Farnham scored his second goal of the game with 23:47 left in the first half to cut Denison’s deficit to 3-2.
Salisbury followed with a pair of goals in the next seven minutes of action, but his senior colleague Molly fischer scored an unassisted goal with 14:51 left before half-time to make it a two-goal, 5-3 game.

Tracing the Seagulls five, 8-3, with 33 seconds left to go before the break, Fischer gave the Big Red some positive momentum entering the half when they scored their second goal of the game and slashed the lead by Salisbury at 8-4.

After the Seagulls took control of the opening moments of the second period, the Big Red quickly rebounded from an 11-4 deficit when Jane Baily fed on Casey McTague for his first goal of the game and reduced the AU deficit to six at 25:08. Less than a minute later, Farnham registered his third goal of the contest, and with 23:24 remaining, McTague entered the scoring column again, reducing Salisbury’s lead to four, 11-7, with the momentum on the side of the Big Rouge.

Despite Denison’s shattering second-half scoreline, Salisbury scored four of the next five goals, including two from Riley Hartman to give the Seagulls a seven, 15-8 lead, with less than 11 minutes to go. Denison received a pair of late first-year goals Maddie Morrell and Casey McTague finished their hat-trick in the second half, but the Seagulls had three goals in the final four minutes to give the Big Reds their second loss of the season, moving their overall record to 12-2. Salisbury improved to 19-0 with the victory as they advance to Sunday’s national championship game where they play No.3 Tufts at 5 p.m.

Farnham and McTague are tied for the lead with three goals apiece, with Farnham also adding an assist, a roll caused and two balls dropped. McTague finished with the team’s four best checks. Fischer and Morrell followed with two goals each while Charlotte godfrey added two balls to the ground, two induced turnovers and two draw controls. Farnham, Lindsey Karsh, Isabelle Brocato, and Caroline O’Dea also finished with two GB each.

Denison ended his 2021 season with a 12-2 overall record, including a 5-0 rating in the NCAC West Division. The Big Red qualified for the program’s first NCAA semi-final after their fifth North Coast Track and Field Conference Championship while extending their winning streak to 43 straight games. Denison finished the year with six All-NCAC caps, including Liza Farnham as NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and Casey McTague as midfielder of the year. The Head Coach Amanda Daniels helped the Big Red reach their seventh consecutive NCAA tournament as she holds a current record of 99-35 (0.739) during her eight seasons at Denison.