Box Score GRANVILLE, Ohio – Denison women's lacrosse opened the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament on Sunday afternoon with a 19-6 victory over Transylvania University hosted at Piper Stadium in Granville, Ohio. With the win, the Big Red move to 16-4 on the season and advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they will play No. 1 Gettysburg College. The loss dropped the Pioneers to 15-5 on the season.
Denison contained the Pioneers from the start, forcing 12 of Transylvania's 21 turnovers and holding TU to 18 shots compared to DU's 40.
Following Salem Carlow's goal at 28:31 to open the game and give Transylvania the early lead, the Big Red rattled off four straight scores, including three-consecutive goals from junior Kiely Noonan who posted a season-high six goals in Sunday's victory to bring her season total to 53, the second most in her career.
A pair of goals from TU's Courtney Pontious allowed the Pioneers to stay within four, 8-4, at 14:55 remaining in the first half, but back-to-back goals from Hope Adams and Virginia Hamilton put the Big Red ahead 10-4 with 11:09 to play before the break. Goals by Lindsey Karsh, Liza Farnham, Noonan, and Maddy Heher helped Denison post a 7-0 scoring run to end the half and enter intermission with a 15-4 advantage.
Holding the Pioneers to only seven shots in the second half, Denison tallied the first four goals of the period to secure the victory and move on to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year.
Noonan led the Big Red with six goals on eight shots while adding an assist. With Sunday's performance, Noonan passed Cheryl Connolly (1992-94) for the third-most career goals in program history at 175. She is only two goals away from tying former teammate Claire Ludlow (2014-17) for second all-time at Denison (77). Farnham, Heher, Adams, and Casey McTague each added two goals in the winning effort while Colleen Muldoon tied for the team-lead with two assists. Karsh tied for the game-high with three ground balls while Jane Goodspeed added six draw controls and Charlotte Godfrey finished with three caused turnovers.
Transylvania's Salem Carlow led the Pioneers with three goals and an assist. Pontious followed with three goals and five draw controls.
In the cage, Hannah Magarian posted her 16th win of the season while collecting six saves in 43:30 of action. TU's Mackenzie Dent was tagged with the loss on 17 saves in 60 minutes played.
The Big Red will travel to Gettysburg College on Saturday, May 18 where they will play the top-ranked Bullets in the NCAA Tournament's third round at a time to be determined.
