Rochester will open play in the 2019 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championships this Wednesday in a first-round match against Denison College of Ohio.
 
The two teams take the field as conference champions. Rochester won the Liberty League title with a 1-0 victory over Vassar College on Saturday at Edwin Fauver Stadium in the Brian Prince Athletic Complex. The Yellowjackets earned a 2-0 win over Ithaca College on the road in the semifinals. Rochester is 14-8 overall.
 
Denison College is the champion of the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Big Red won the conference semifinal at home, 2-0 over DePauw University, then won the title, 2-1 over Kenyon College on Saturday. Denison enters the tournament with a nine-match winning streak. The Big Red has conceded two goals over those nine matches. Denison is 16-3 overall.
 
Tickets are priced at $5 for adults, $3 for students with ID, children under 12, military, and senior citizens. The tickets will go on sale in the lobby of Fauver Stadium at 2 pm Wednesday.
 
This is the fourth meeting between Rochester and Denison, the first in the NCAA playoffs. Rochester won the inaugural, 1-0, on September 19, 1986 in Rochester. Denison claimed a 2-1 win in Granville, OH on October 26, 2014. Rochester defeated Denison in Rochester, 2-0, on September 6, 2015.
 

Rochester is making its fifth consecutive NCAA playoff appearance in field hockey and its sixth since the 2012 season. The Yellowjackets hosted first round NCAA matches in 2012 (2-0 win over Rowan), 2015 (2-1 win over Misericordia), and 2016 (2-0 win over Shenandoah). Rochester received a bye in 2017. The Yellowjackets moved into the Sweet 16 at Middlebury College. They defeated Husson College of Maine, 2-1, then lost to host Middlebury, 5-0, in the Elite 8. Last year, UR received another bye, then defeated Franklin & Marshall in the Sweet 16 at Rowan University. UR lost to Rowan, 4-0, in the Elite 8.
 
The winner of Wednesday's game advances to the Sweet 16 in Baltimore, MD at Johns Hopkins University. At that site, they will be paired against Tufts University in the Sweet 16. Rochester lost to Tufts, 3-1, in September in Medford, Mass. Johns Hopkins will play the winner of a Wednesday match between Messiah College and Worcester State.
 
UR's scoring leader is senior Catherine Hauser (14 goals, one assist, 29 points).  Sophomore Amanda Strenk is second (12-4-28) with senior Colleen Maillie third (7-9-23), sophomore Nikki Mercer fourth (7-6-20), senior Maya Haigis fifth (3-9-15), and junior Kira Ozer sixth (5-1-11).
 
On the back line, senior Emma Schlechter has two defensive saves – and two gamewinning goals. The two GWG goals came in the Liberty League playoffs. She scored an early first period goal against Ithaca and later made a defensive save to preserve the shutout. In the title game vs. Vassar, she collected a pass from Maille deep on the left side of the circle and redirected it into the corner of the net for the 1-0 victory. She was named the Liberty League's Most Outstanding Player for the Championships.
 
In goal, senior Kate Kujawa has a 1.38 GAA with 100 saves in 1,309:05. She has six solo shutouts and one shared shutout.
 
Denison won six of its first seven this year, with the only loss a 2-1 decision at #17 Washington & Jefferson. The Big Red lost two of three after that, 1-0 at home vs. Ohio Wesleyan (avenged three weeks later, 2-0 at OWU) and 2-1 vs. Kenyon at home. Denison has outscored its opponents 48-9 and posted 12 shutouts – seven individual shutouts by junior Teya Adams and five shared. Adams has a 0.54 GAA in 1,007:45. She's made 49 saves.
 
The Big Red scoring totals are balanced: five players have 10 or more points: junior Charlotte Godfrey (9-7-25), junior Abby Scully (6-7-19), sophomore Maya Tumiwa (6-3-15), senior Charlotte Happel (6-3-15) and freshman Madeline Hunt (7-0-14).