Behind two second-half tallies, the Denison women's soccer team picked up a 2-0 victory over regional rival, Otterbein, on Wednesday night at Barclay-Thomsen Field in Granville.

With the win, the Big Red improved to 4-1 on the season and earned its third victory over a Great Lakes Region foe.  Denison also secured its third shutout win over the Cardinals in the last four meetings.

Defense played a vital role in keeping the match scoreless in the opening 45 minutes. The two squads combined for 11 shots in the first half, with four requiring saves by Denison keeper Jenny Herold and Cardinal goalie Dana Strimbu.

In the 47th minute, Otterbein just missed cashing in on a golden opportunity when Jillian Strimbu and Alvi Shively saw header attempts strike the crossbar and sail over the goal. Megan McCabe also saw a redirect attempt hit just outside the goal one minute later.

The DU attack answered the offensive flurry with one of its own as they attempted the next five shots of the match, an outburst that would eventually produce the contest's first goal. After the first four attempts were kept away from the goal line, senior Gen Eng-Surowiec finally broke the scoreless tie. After taking a couple touches, Eng-Surowiec lifted a ball towards the goal that just cleared past the outstretched hand of Strimbu and found the back of the net.  The senior's second-career goal came at 57:35.

The Big Red doubled their lead in the 77th minute when freshman Meg Wozniak recorded her second goal of the season.  After settling a failed clear attempt by the Cardinals, Wozniak floated a ball from 30 yards out that also fell between the goalie's hand and the crossbar.

Denison nearly added another insurance goal when back-to-back shots by Jessica Skelly and Keara Kilbane bounced off the crossbar.

DU outshot the Cards 16-13, including a 7-3 edge in shots on net.  Otterbein held a 6-4 edge in corners, while Denison committed 13 of the 21 fouls in the match. Wozniak paced the Big Red offense with six shots, while Ashlyn Flaherty had three attempts.  Herold made three saves en route to her first-collegiate shutout.

Erica Meier recorded three shots for Otterbein, while McCabe and Strimbu each had two.  Dana Strimbu made five stops between the pipes.

The Big Red returns to action this Saturday (Sept. 13) when they travel to 14th-ranked Chicago. Match time is scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT.