GRANVILLE- In their first game under the lights at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium and in the spotlight of their first televised contest, the Big Red men's lacrosse team shined bright in a 15-3 shellacking of Wittenberg.

The game marked the first collegiate telecast for the newly formed Columbus Sports Network (CSN) which can be viewed on cable systems in the greater Columbus area.

Denison junior attack Topher Nazaruk (Stratford, Conn./Fairfield Prep) wasted little time putting on a show for the cameras as he scored his first of what would be four goals just 1:48 seconds into the contest. A Brady Burton (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) goal followed by another Nazaruk score would give DU a 3-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second period is where DU really put the pressure on, outscoring the Tigers 5-0 to take a comfortable seven goal lead into the half. From the second quarter to the fourth DU would rattle off nine unanswered goals.

Nazaruk led the way with a career high nine points (four goals, four assists). Burton finished with two goals and two assists while Ted Gulyas (Medina, Ohio/Medina) tallied three goals. J.J. Reidy (Snyder, N.Y./Amherst Central), Rick Mackessy (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), Dan Maude (Wayne, Pa./Haverford School), Brian Bienemann (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), Connor Detjen (Winnetka, Ill./Loyola Academy) and Nate Hall (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) rounded out the goal scoring for the Big Red. Also contributing assists were Chris Chandler (Kent, Ohio/Roosevelt), Clay Wawner (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello), Teddy Epstein (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) and Hall.

The Big Red took 13-of-21 face-off's led by Detjen's 10-for-16 night. Four players scooped up four ground balls and as a team the Big Red finished with 39 grounders compared to just 16 for the Tigers.

Denison goalie Alex Baruch (Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's) played 45 minutes and recorded five saves. Daniel Wallace (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) relieved Baruch and played 11 minutes while Patrick Cuff (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) finished off the final four minutes of action.

This marked Denison's first North Coast Athletic Conference victory of the season and also improved their record to 5-2 overall. Wittenberg drops to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Denison's next opponent will be at St. Vincent College on Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m.

The Columbus Sports Network (CSN) will air the contest, in its entirety, on tape delay on Thursday (March 29) at 7 p.m. The game will air again immediately after the first airing and will also be broadcast again on Friday (March 30) at 7 p.m. CSN is broadcast on Channels 78 and 524 on the Insight cable system, Channel 97 on the WOW cable system, and over-the-air on Channel 32. Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio Division plans to carry CSN on Channel 78. Please check your local listings.

Box Score

2007-03-29