The Denison Big Red shrugged off a 2-0 second half deficit by rattling off six unanswered goals over the final 37 minutes of play to knock off the Wabash Little Giants, 6-2 from Mud Hollow Field in Crawfordsville, Ind.
The six goals are the most scored in one half by a Denison team since they put six on the board in the first half against Muskingum College in 1996. It was also the most goals scored in a match by a Denison team since a 6-1 win at LaRoche on Aug. 31, 2003.
Denison's comeback attempt would get going in the 54th minute when Matt Kepler (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) scored his first goal of the season. Thirty-seven seconds later Ben Peek (Burke, Va./Robinson Secondary) tied the match at 2-2 with his second goal of the year.
The hot streak would continue just over two minutes later when Drew Lash (Ballwin, Mo./Whitfield School) found Tucker Mauke (Simsbury, Conn./West Simsbury) with the go-ahead goal and the eventual game-winner. After the goal by Mauke, senior midfielder Peter Shorten (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) would add back-to-back scores in the 56th and 60th minute to put DU up 5-2 with 30 minutes to play. Remarkably, five of Denison's six goals happened in just under 10 minutes of play. The final score of the game was added by Hubert Beauchmin (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy).
The Big Red ended up outshooting Wabash 13-11. They made the most of their attempts in the second half, scoring on six of their nine shots taken. Senior goalkeeper Kevin Donahue (Riverside, Conn./Greenwich) added five saves.
The huge second half for the men's soccer team stayed right in step with the women's soccer team and the Big Red field hockey team on Saturday. The women scored four times in the second half to blank Kalamazoo, while the field hockey team rattled off three unanswered scores in the second half to upend previous unbeaten, Wooster. That's a total of 13 goals between three teams in the second half on Saturday afternoon.
The Denison men improve to 5-3-1 with the win and are 1-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. For their next test, they will travel to Meadville, Pa. on Sunday (Oct. 4) for a 1 p.m. tilt against the Gators.
