The Denison University men's soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals as they edged Otterbein University 2-1 on Wednesday evening at Barclay-Thomsen Field in Granville.

The Big Red had plenty of quality scoring chances in the opening period as they held a commanding 13-4 advantage in shots over the Cardinals.  Junior Chris Olson (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) executed a solid give-and-go pass in the 27th minute that resulted in a wide open shot that went just wide of the net.  Ninety seconds later, sophomore Ryan Torgersen (Spring, Texas/Klein) settled a botched attempt at a corner clear and just missed a shot wide to the left.

With 11:08 left in the first half, Olson put a solid head on a Jamie Wagner (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College) corner, but Cardinal keeper Alex Kamphaus was right their to corral the shot.  Finally, with just 45 ticks left in the first senior Ish Ghodbane (St. Louis, Mo./Ladue Horton Watkins) settled a beautiful cross from Olson, but lifted the ball over the cross bar as the two teams entered the intermission deadlocked at 0-0.

Even though they were trailing in the shots category at the half, the Cards struck first on the scoreboard when a ball deflected through the Big Red defense and landed on the foot of Zach Moskites.  In wide open space, Moskites unloaded a shot from 20 yards out that sailed past freshman goalie John Huddleston (Ballwin, Mo./St. Louis University) and into the back of the net.  Moskites' first tally of the season came at the 49:08 mark and gave Otterbein a 1-0 lead.

However, DU answered back in the 61st minute when junior Ben Peek (Burke, Va./Robinson Secondary) notched his first goal of the season.  Peek used his head to redirect a Ghodbane free kick into the goal.  Ghodbane's kick came from just outside the right edge of the 18-yard box after Peek drew an Otterbein foul.

Denison took their only lead of the match when Olson settled a deflected ball in front of the net and blasted a shot past Kamphaus.  Olson's third goal of the year came at the 68:30 mark off a corner kick from senior Hubert Beauchemin (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy).

The Cardinals were able to fire off seven shots over the final 21:30, but none of them found their way past the young Huddleston.

At the end of the night the Big Red outshot Otterbein 25-15, and attempted 11 corner kicks compared to just one by the Cards.  Both Huddleston and Kamphaus finished the match with three saves.

Denison improves to 2-2 on the season, while Otterbein falls to 1-3.  DU returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 11) when they travel to Thomas More College.  Match time from Crestview Hills, Ky. is slated for 3:30 p.m.