Emmett Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) and Alex Hardt (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal) combined for seven of the Big Red's nine goals but that wasn't enough to overcome an early four-goal deficit as the top-ranked Stevenson Mustangs held off the No. 14 ranked Big Red, 13-9 on Saturday from Owings Mills, Md.
Just a junior, Jones entered the contest with 96 career goals. With 1:06 to go in the third quarter Tanner Smith found him for his fourth goal of the game, making him just the 12th player in the history of Denison men's lacrosse to score 100 career goals. Not only that, Jones joins Andy John and teammate Brady Burton as the only players to reach the century mark as juniors.
Stevenson would take the early 5-1 lead but Denison put together a a run before halftime thanks to a pair of goals within the span of just seven seconds by Hardt and Jones. With 3:11 to play in the second quarter, Hardt sent his second goal of the day past Stevenson goalie Geoff Hebert, and off the ensuing face off, senior Connor Detjen (Winnetka, Ill./Loyola Academy) locked up possession and hit Jones for the quick-strike goal, cutting the Stevenson lead to 6-4.
In the third quarter Stevenson would push their lead back out to four but DU kept in striking distance. With 12:23 left in the game Hardt scored his final goal of the day and with 6:27 senior Brady Burton (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) converted his 11th man-up goal of the season to trim the lead back down to 11-9.
Following a Stevenson turnover, Denison would regain possession with a chance to get to within one goal but a shot attempt by Jones would be saved by Hebert, giving possession back to the Mustangs. On their next possession Stevenson's Neal Barthelme gave his team a three-goal cushion with 4:08 to play. They would tack on one final goal with just over two minutes to play off Richie Ford's third goal of the day.
Denison and Stevenson combined for 98 shots in this high-octane battle of nationally ranked squads. Stevenson outshot the Big Red 56-42 but DU held an edge in the face off game, taking 15-of-25. Both teams were 2-for-5 when in extra-man situations and Denison's Gregg Shannon (Lindenhurst, N.J./Saint Anthony's) led the way with 13 saves for the Big Red in goal. Hebert posted 10 saves for Stevenson.
The Big Red's regular season comes to an end with a 10-3 record. The participants in the 2010 NCAA Division III Tournament will be announced next Sunday (May 9) at 10 p.m. on CBS College Sports Television. An update will also be posted on the Denison athletics website immediately following the announcement by the NCAA. The Big Red is hoping for one of three pool B bids. If they are chosen by the selection committee this will be the program's 18th appearance in championship tournament.
