After moving up two spots in the national rankings from 16th to 14th the Big Red men's lacrosse team jumped all over Mount St. Joseph with eight goals in the opening quarter. That hot start would result in a 17-1 win for Denison and run their winning streak to eight games.

Denison sophomore Tanner Smith (Boxford, Mass./Brooks School) got things going for DU thanks to a pair of unassisted goals in the opening five minutes of play. Then sophomore Kyle Bliss (Basking Ridge, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) would start a streak of six goals over the next four minutes of play.

The Big Red would take a 12-0 lead into halftime after oushooting their opponents 27-7. Denison dominated possession in the opening 30 minutes and would control the ball throughout most of the game. Junior Connor Detjen (Winnetka, Ill./Loyola Academy) raised his season face-off percentage to .697 by going 12-for-13. HE also added a team-high eight ground balls. As a team DU won 17-of-20 face-off's.

Thirteen different players scored goals for the Big Red as Smith, Emmett Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy), Peter Loftus (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) and Brady Burton (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) all netted two goals apiece. In the fourth quarter freshman Christian Payne (Salisbury, Md./Worcester Prep) netted his first collegiate goal off an assist from John Dionne (Scottsdale, Ariz./Western Reserve Academy). Payne is the 21st Denison player to score a goal in 2009.

The Big Red were 2-for-5 in extra-man opportunities with goals coming from Jones and Burton in the second and third quarters, respectively. For the second straight game, all four DU goalies logged significant playing time. Freshman Gregg Shannon (Lindenhurst, N.Y./St. Anthony's) picked up the win in 20 minutes of action. Junior Pat Cuff (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) was the busiest in goal. He turned in four saves in 16:30.

Denison next game will be Friday (April 17) at 7:30 p.m. against Colorado College.

2009-04-15