The DePauw men’s lacrosse team lost to eighth-ranked Denison 17-3 last Saturday.
Denison dominated consistently throughout the first quarter, resulting in a 7-0 deficit for DePauw at the end of the period.
The Denison Big Red continued to hold the Tigers scoreless through the second quarter as well, leaving the Tigers to head into the locker room at the half trailing by twelve.
Despite the large halftime deficit, head coach Carl Haas praised the team members for their consistent effort throughout the entirety of the game.
“We asked the team to go out and run hard the whole time, no matter what, and they did just that,” Haas said.
With four minutes left of play in the third quarter, the Tigers recorded their first goal when first-year attack Steen Jorgensen converted with the help of an assist from sophomore midfielder Ben Sherman. With this goal, DePauw closed the scoring gap to 14-1.
Following the first goal, the points seemed easier to come by. With 2:52 remaining in the third quarter, sophomore midfielder Andrew Wright scored his first goal of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, he scored again.
“Andrew played a standout game,” said first-year midfielder Joe Garvey. “His two goals were against tough defenders.”
Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Joe Musto recorded eight saves.
“I think the team did a good job of staying positive throughout the game, which was good, considering the way the score was going,” Musto said.
Denison is one of the most historic Division III lacrosse programs and one of the highest ranked teams in the country this year. DePauw's goal remains to reach that caliber of play.
“Denison has a lot of history on their side--probably 50 years or more--and they have some terrific athletes. We need to continue to do our best in bettering ourselves,” Haas said. “It was tough, but I told the team that Denison's level is the level we're trying to get to.”
With this loss, the team falls to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC, while Denison improves to 7-1 and 1-0 in the NCAC.
The Tigers will continue action on Saturday versus nonconference opponent Beloit College (1-7) at neutral Lincoln-Way West High School in New Lenox, Ill.. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.