GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 14, 2021) – Three goals in the first half turned out to be more than enough for the Denison University men's soccer team to upset No. 7 nationally-ranked Capital University by a final score of 4-1 on Tuesday night on Barclay-Thomsen Field.

After the first of 11 saves in the match by senior goalkeeper Dylan Brown, Denison (4-1 overall) quickly reversed field and then scored less than three minutes into the match as Ethan Miracle put one into the back of the net off the first-career assist by freshman Cameron McIntosh.

Brown, meanwhile, made five saves in the first 12 minutes of the match as the Big Red then took a 2-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Vitor Rocha in the 18th minute. However, Capital (4-1) responded less than a minute later to cut its deficit back to one.

Then in the 39th minute, Luca Vicinelli came up with his third goal of the season and his team's third goal of the first half thanks to the assist by Henry Schwartz.

The four combined goals in the first half came in large contrast to the 0-0 tie between the two teams during their last meeting back in 2019.

Denison had only three shots on goal in the first half, but converted every one of them while Capital only cashed in on one of its eight shots on frame in the first 45 minutes.

The Big Red continued to pour it on in the second half as Miracle scored his second goal of the match and third in his last two matches in the 62nd minute. Miracle is now the team leader in goals on the season with four.

In the end, Denison was outshot 22-13 overall and 12-6 on shots on goal, but it did not matter as the Big Red defense was up to the task. Capital, meanwhile, entered the match riding a streak of three straight shutouts while only surrendering one goal all season long.

"I am really proud of this group," said Denison's Head Coach Brandon Bianco, who also picked up his first win at Denison over a nationally-ranked team. "Tonight we really dug in and got big contributions from everyone in the program. I thought Capital presented us with some challenges, and we did a great job managing moments and found times where we could get at them. As I told the team, this was a great team win."

Denison will now have two more home matches in a row before the start of North Coast Athletic Conference play. The next match will be this Saturday (Sept. 18) at 7 p.m. against Wilmington College.