RICHMOND, Ind. -- Behind five first-half goals, the Denison field hockey team improved to 3-1 in North Coast Athletic Conference play with an 8-1 victory at Earlham on Friday afternoon.

Junior Melissa Hoey and sophomore Alyssa Bahel put the Big Red on the board with two goals 34 seconds apart. Hoey recorded her first-collegiate goal at 11:06 off an assist from senior Abby Martone, while Bahel scored for the fifth time this season off a pass from Emily Marlatt. DU added to their lead in the 19th minute when Bahel found Lucy Pearsall for her first goal of the afternoon. Pearsall paid it forward in the 24th minute by assisting junior Jen Durbin on her second tally of 2016. Sophomore Virginia Hamilton put Denison up by five with an unassisted goal at 25:38. The Quakers snapped the scoring streak when Maite Turlings found the back of the cage on Earlham's second untimed penalty corner.

Pearsall opened the second-period scoring with back-to-back goals in the 40th and 42nd minutes. The sophomore's goal at 39:45 was an unassisted tally, while Martone helped out on Pearsall's hat-trick tally. Freshman Charlotte Happel closed out the scoring at 43:29 with her ninth goal of the year.

Denison outshot Earlham 19-9, which included a 14-3 advantage in shots on cage. Despite doubling up DU in penalty corners, the Quakers managed to only pick up one goal on their six chances. Sophomore goalie Ellen Westfall made two stops, while Kudzai Mushongahan and Camille van der Vaart each had three saves for Earlham.

The Big Red improves to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in league play, while the Quakers fall to 4-4 and 1-3 in the NCAC. Denison wraps up their weekend trip to Indiana on Saturday when they take on DePauw University at 12 p.m.