Box Score GRANVILLE, Ohio-- No. 4 Denison capped off their regular season by notching their 13th consecutive victory as they defeated Wabash College, 25-1 on Senior Day at Piper Stadium. The win clinches Denison's 17th North Coast Athletic Conference championship, assuring them the No. 1 seed in next week's NCAC Tournament.
Denison's Liam Rooney entered the game needing 10 assists to break the Denison career record and the NCAC single-season record. Rooney racked up five assists in the first six minutes of play thanks to goals by Jamie McCahan, Jake Waxter, Will Donohue, Peter Pittroff and Owen Armstrong.
The Big Red held an 11-1 lead after one quarter. In the second, Rooney assisted on goals by Josh Happ, McCahan on a nifty behind-the-back goal, and Donohue via an extra-man opportunity. Denison went into halftime with an 18-1 lead and it looked as if Rooney's day was done with nine assists.
That changed in the fourth when a penalty on Wabash's John Rodgers brought Denison's man-up unit back on to the field. A shot by Ryan Seymour off a pass from Rooney was saved by Wabash's Samuel Stewart, but the Big Red got the ball back and this time Rooney found Aidan Maher for the score.
The assist gave Rooney 10 on the day, tying the Big Red's single-game record. It also runs his season total to 62, breaking the NCAC record for assists in a year that had been held by Blair Morrison of Ohio Wesleyan since 1985. For his career, Rooney now sits at 136 assists which makes him Denison's new career leader, passing John Beatson '66 with 135 assists.
Another senior reached a career milestone in the game as Donohue finished with five goals, running his career total to 100. He is the 16th player in program history to score 100 goals.
All eight seniors got the start. The 2017 seniors consist of Donohue, Thomas Farrell, Michael Haueisen, McCahan, Alex Paulus, Rooney, Jack Ruf and Teddy Sawyer. They accounted for 21 points and 14 ground balls in the game. In all, they have totaled a career record of 63-8 dating back to 2014.
Denison outshot Wabash 72-13 and was 26-of-29 when facing off. Ground balls were 53-14 in favor of the Big Red and DU finished 1-for-2 in man-up.
Up next for Denison is the NCAC Tournament Semifinals that will take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. They will face No. 4 seed, Wooster at 7:30 p.m. inside Piper Stadium.
