Led by some text book offensive soccer and a stingy Denison back line, the 22nd ranked Big Red cruised to a 3-0 victory over Allegheny College on Saturday afternoon from Barclay-Thomsen Field in Granville, Ohio.
After having their consecutive scoreless streak halted at 509 minutes on Wednesday at Oberlin, the Big Red defense looked determined to start a brand new streak on Saturday and that didn't bode well for the visiting Gators.
In the seventh minute of play, Denison got their first goal of the match when Jen Clemmer (Hixson, Tenn./Baylor School) crossed a ball from the right side of the field to Anna Rusch (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends School) who was sitting in front of the net. The goal was Rusch's sixth of the year.
Just 20 seconds later, Allegheny would put together their best and only scoring opportunity of the afternoon when Gator midfielder Nicole Mascia sent a shot into the box that was saved by Courtney Cobb (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy). After the save, the ball was bouncing freely in front of the Denison goal. Just before Mascia could get another foot on it, Denison's Haley Gewehr (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) cleared the ball out of harms way.
The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Big Red until the 39th minute when Clemmer received the ball just across the center line. She sprinted up the right side of the field and as she turned toward the goal, she skillfully slammed on the breaks, turned and sent a shot to the upper left corner for a highlight reel goal.
Later, in the 63rd minute, it would be another Clemmer goal, this time off a cross from Maggie Hoskin (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmor), that would set the final score at 3-0. Clemmer scored on two of her five shots on the afternoon. Rusch also attempted five shots while Hoskin took three for DU. Denison outshot the Gators 17-1 and out-cornered them 8-2.
The shutout is the 10th of the season in 13 matches for DU. Cobb lowered her goals against average to a minuscule 0.46 on the season.
DU improves to 10-2-1 overall and 3-0-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while Allegheny falls to 8-4-1 and 1-1-1 in conference play. Denison will continue their conference schedule on Wednesday when they travel to Richmond, Ind. for a 4 p.m. tilt with Earlham College.
