The Big Red women's soccer team improved to 3-0 on the season and secured its second-consecutive shutout thanks to a 1-0 victory over Hanover on Sunday in Granville.

The momentum swung back-and-forth for the entire 90 minutes of play. Hanover's Anna Cornachhione generated the first legitimate scoring opportunity in the 16th minute, but good awareness by Denison goalkeeper Jenny Herold allowed her to punch the ball over the crossbar to keep it a scoreless match.

In the 25th minute, junior Anne Denz ripped a shot that forced Hanover goalie Morgan Cole to make a leaping grab to stop the ball from going into the back of the net. Ten minutes later, the Panthers' Anne-Spicer Adams answered with a potential opportunity down the right side. However, her attempt was blocked out of bounds by sophomore defender Drew Wentzel.

After 45 minutes of play, both teams had attempted five shots, committed two fouls and both goalies had two saves. In the 50th minute, junior Jessica Skelly sent a beautiful through ball to senior Andrea Witte. Witte found some space and lifted a shot just over the crossbar.

The Panthers were able to counter two minutes later with a golden opportunity to break the tie. Elaine Simpson created space from her defender and looked to fire a shot past Herold. However, the sophomore came charging out of her net to cut the angle and deflected the ball away from the goal. Herold quickly recovered to corral a shot attempt from Cornacchione for another save.

In the 64th minute, the Big Red finally broke the tie when freshman Maggie Armstrong netted her second goal of the season. Armstrong was the beneficiary of a failed clear by the Hanover defense on a Witte corner kick. The freshman's unassisted go-ahead goal came from six yards out at 63:50.

Denison nearly made it a 2-0 game when Witte touched the ball out to Denz who sent a cross to sophomore Grace Murray. However, Murray's chip shot went just over the left corner of the goal. Murray tried to set Denz up for an insurance goal, but her header went left of frame.

Over the final five minutes, Hanover tried desperately to score the equalizer. In the 85th minute, Cornacchione found some space inside the box, but her shot attempt was snagged by Herold. Three and a half minutes later, Rachel Alvis uncorked a shot that was swatted away by the left hand of the Denison netminder. Cornacchione tried one last time to score inside the final minute, but her attempt went wide of the goal.

The Panthers held a 15-12 edge in shots and attempted five corner kicks to the Big Red's two. Hanover was whistled for eight fouls, including one yellow card, while Denison committed just two infractions.

Denz led Denison with four shots, while Armstong and Witte each had two. Herold finished with a season-best six saves en route to her second-consecutive shutout. Cornacchione attempted six of Hanover's 15 shots, while Cole made two saves in goal.

Denison improves to 3-0 on the year, while Hanover falls to 2-1. The Big Red returns to action on Wednesday (Sept. 9) when they travel to Westerville to take on regional rival Otterbein at 7 p.m.