DANVILLE, Ky.—Centre College held off a late Denison charge to complete a 12-11 upset victory over the No. 14 Big Red from Farris Stadium in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.  With the loss, Denison's season ends with an 8-2 record.  Centre advances to the second round with a 12-1 record and will face Colorado College in the second-round tomorrow afternoon.

Trailing 11-5 entering the fourth quarter, the Big Red mounted a furious comeback started by goals from Camden Bowdy and Sam Asman in the opening minutes of the final period.  A goal by Centre's Jack Shannon with 10:11 to play pushed the Colonels lead back to 12-7 but another goal from Asman followed up a man-up goal from Bowdy with 6:46 remaining shifted momentum back to Denison. 

With 4:16 on the clock, Asman fired great shot attempt that was saved by Centre goalie Wills McCutcheon.  The two teams traded possessions but Denison gained new life when Ian Crosby buried a shot with 3:18 left to make it a 12-10 contest.
Denison won the face-off and attempted a transition shot but Will Filliault's shot was turned away by another big save from McCutcheon with three minutes left.

DU turned up the heat on the ride as Douglas Brooks forced a turnover that was picked up by DU goalie TJ Spahn.  After a Centre timeout, Will Kenney scored off a pass from Ethan Tyack with 2:16 left moving the deficit to one.

Centre took the ensuing face-off on a violation but a shot by Shannon with one minute to play was saved by Spahn giving the Big Red some life.  With 49 seconds, Asman's potential game-tying shot sailed wide and with 16 seconds, Luke Fisher's attempt was saved by McCutcheon.  The Colonels managed to clear the ball and run out the clock completing the upset win giving former Denison assistant coach Grant Zimmerman his first NCAA Tournament victory as a head coach.

McCutcheon was outstanding between the pipes for Centre.  The junior from Atlanta finished with 14 saves with six coming in the pivotal fourth quarter. His counterpart, Spahn, finished with 13 saves for Denison.

Denison outshot Centre 54-41 and narrowly won the ground ball battle 32-28.  Denison entered the game with the nation's top-ranked face-off percentage but Centre turned the tables, winning 16-of-26 draws on the day.

Centre was led in scoring by Nic Malubay who finished with two goals and one assist on four shots.  Chase Poplin added a pair of goals while Dylan Croft was 16-of-26 on face-off's with 10 ground balls.

Asman paced Denison with three goals and one assist on nine shots.  Bowdy added two goals and two assists while Kenney chipped in two goals and one assist.

This marks Denison's first opening round loss in the NCAA Tournament since a 10-7 defeat at the hands of Cabrini in 2010.