The Big Red won their third straight game and improved their record to 4-1 on the year and 32-0 all-time against the Wittenberg Tigers following a 12-4 victory from Deeds Field-Piper Stadium in Granville, Ohio.

Denison jumped out to a 5-0 lead through the first quarter and a half of play and held off a much-improved Tiger squad over the final 35 minutes to pull off the eight-goal victory.

The Big Red dominated possession at the face-off circle thanks to preseason All-American Connor Detjen's (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) work against a trio of Tiger opponents. Detjen's speed forced Wittenberg into a number of violations in the circle and when the smoke cleared the Big Red found themselves 18-for-19 in face-off situations. Individually, Detjen was 17-for-18 and improved his already impressive .627 F-O percentage entering the game to .723.

Senior midfielder Dan Maude (Wayne, Pa./Haverford School) led all scorers with four goals. He got things started at the 10:38 mark of the first quarter when Davis Lukens (Marietta, Ga./Holy Innocents) found him from eight yards out for his seventh goal of the year.

Maude followed with a dazzling unassisted goal with 3:38 to play in the second quarter before tacking on his fourth goal in an extra-man situation with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

In extra-man opportunities Denison was 3-for-5 and received goals from Maude, Brady Burton (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) and Nate Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). Wittenberg was 1-for-1 thanks to a Matt Snider goal early in the fourth quarter.

While Maude led the goal scoring parade, sophomore Tanner Smith (Boxford, Mass./Brooks School) scored once and added three assists. Lukens finished with two goals, two assists and a game-high seven ground balls.

Rookie goalkeeper Gregg Shannon (Lindenhurst, N.Y./St. Anthony's) posted 10 saves between the pipes for the Big Red. Wittenberg goalie Mark DeOliveira notched seven saves in 60 minutes of action.

Denison outshot Wittenberg 35-30, finished with 33 ground balls and were 13-for-13 in clear attempts.

The Big Red are ranked 17th in the latest USILA Division III Top-20 coaches poll. They will remain at home for a 1:00 p.m. clash with The College of Wooster on Saturday (March 28). A live internet audio broadcast of that game will be available free of charge through TEAMLINE. The broadcast will begin five minutes before the start of the game.

2009-03-26