RICHMOND -- The Earlham College field hockey team lost in heartbreaking fashion to Denison University in the North Coast Athletic Conference semifinals on Tuesday. The Quakers scored first but Denison came back to tie the game and force penalty shots where they took a 2-1 win. 

Earlham tallied the first goal of the contest in the 11th minute of play. Reilly Swislosky intercepted a poor pass from the Big Red defense and took a shot on goal. The Denison goalkeeper made the save on Swislosky's shot but Guin Schalck was there to make the second-attempt goal. 

Denison equalized the game on the chaos of a penalty corner. The Big Red had a player on the backside to collect a loose ball and put it away for the score.

After four quarters of play, the teams were still tied at 1-1 and play went to overtime. The two 10-minute periods were not enough to decide a winner as the Quakers went to shootouts for the second time this season against Denison. 

Schalck scored the first penalty of the shootout for the Quakers but Earlham was unable to score again in the shootout. Meg Murphy saved two of the penalty shots as Denison won 2-1. 

The Quakers led in shots 13-11 with eight of their shots coming in overtime. Denison led in penalty corners 6-2. 

Murphy recorded six saves in goal. 

Earlham concludes its season with a mark of 15-4 and 6-2 in NCAC competition. The 2021 season marks as one of the best in program history as the Quakers beat the program record for wins in a season and made the NCAC tournament for the first time in program history.