Box Score GRANVILLE, Ohio—Spencer Butler scored four goals and Jake Waxter added three goals to lead No. 9 Denison to a pivotal 14-13 season-opening victory over 12th ranked Washington and Lee.
With the score tied 4-4 early in the second quarter, the Big Red rattled off five-straight goals to end the period and enter halftime with a 9-4 lead. Butler tallied three of his team-high four goals in the second.
In the third quarter, the Generals rallied and erased the Denison lead thanks to a 5-0 run that covered the first 14 minutes of the period. After Ben Mulholland's man-up goal with 1:11 tied the game at 9-9, the final 71 seconds of the third were a microcosm of the game. With 37 seconds left, Brooks Davy scored off a beautiful feed from Peter Pittroff. The Generals took the ensuing faceoff on a violation and Garret Cannon quickly found Jen Londry for the goal. The next faceoff went to Denison and Owen Armstrong beat the buzzer to enter the fourth with an 11-10 lead.
In the fourth, the Generals took back the lead with 11:27 to play on Robert Cooleen's goal from Hudson Hamill. Back-to-back goals by Denison's Wills Hutras and Spencer Butler opened up a two-goal lead for the Big Red.
The Generals refused to go quietly as Jack Ware got his team to within one with 1:09 to play. Washington and Lee won the faceoff after a violation on Denison but a turnover by the Generals gave the ball back to Denison and the Big Red successfully ran out the clock over the final 40 seconds.
Pittroff finished with one goal and four assists. Davy had a pair of tallies and Patrick Lunt led the defense with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Reeves McKenney had 10 saves in 60 minutes. Jack Taylor posted nine saves for W&L.
Washington and Lee (1-2) outshot Denison 39-32 and the Generals were 2-for-3 in man-up situations.
Denison (1-0) returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 23) when they host Stevenson at 3 p.m.
