GRANVILLE, Ohio (October 9, 2022) – Fueled by four goals from Madeleine Hunt, the Denison University Big Red recorded a 4-1 victory over Allegheny College on Saturday at Piper Stadium. It was Senior Day for Hunt in addition to Meg Baylis and Sunnie Fireman, while manager Lily Baylis was also recognized as part of the festivities prior to the game.

Denison, which was playing on no day's rest while Allegheny had seven days off to prepare for the matchup, took advantage of a slow start by the Gators with two goals by Hunt in the first five minutes of the game.

All three Big Red seniors earned the start on Sunday as Fireman helped get the ball into the front of the goal for Hunt's first goal three and half minutes in before Hunt made a great spin move to get an open shot and score her second goal only a minute and a half later.

Denison would finish with four shots on goal in the first quarter while holding Allegheny to without an attempt on target for the first 39 minutes of the game.

In the second quarter, Denison's Helen Breen would add two more shots on goal, both of which were saved by Allegheny's Hallie Reiger before she faced a barrage a shots that resulted in another goal by Hunt in the 27th minute. After Katie Teates fired back-to-back shots that just bounced off Reiger, Teates then decided to pass it around Reiger to the front of the goal, where Hunt was waiting to do what she does best and knock it in. It was Teates' second assist of the game to that point.

Denison outshot Allegheny 7-0 in the second quarter while Reiger made four saves in the period to increase her total to six saves in the opening 30 minutes. Reiger then made two more saves on shots on goal by Hunt and Baylis in the second minute of the third quarter.

Big Red goalkeeper Athena Joannou made her first save of the game in the 40th minute, but less than a minute and a half later, a penalty corner for the Gators followed by another save by Joannou led to a deflection goal to get Allegheny on the scoreboard.

Back-to-back shots by Nina Casingal and Grace Lock were both saved by Reiger in the 44th minute as she reached the double-digit saves mark through only three quarters.

Despite the two-goal lead entering the fourth quarter, Joannou and the Big Red defense needed to step up to maintain the advantage. Allegheny come out on a mission to try and cut into Denison's lead as Joannou had to make three saves in the first 67 seconds of the period. Then in the 51st minute, a turnover trying to take the ball out of their defensive box nearly cost the Big Red if not for a great sprawling save by Joannou.

In all, Allegheny outshot Denison 11-7 in the second half while Joannou made five saves in the fourth quarter and had seven for the game, but then in the final two minutes, Kristin Kelley passed into the box, leading to the fourth goal of the day by Hunt.

 
Senior Day Recap:

Meg Baylis has played in 49 games and has started in 36 in her career, including starting in all 11 games so far as a senior. Baylis has scored five goals and recorded four assists in her career. She has been named to the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad in all three years so far, and was inducted into Denison's Chi Alpha Sigma chapter in 2021-22.

Lily Baylis has spent the last two seasons as a student manager for the Big Red. After scoring three goals as a freshman in 2019, Lily was named to the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad for both the 2019 and 2020 season, and made the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2020-21.

Sunnie Fireman has played in 44 games and started 22 in her career, including eight starts in 11 games so far this season. Fireman was named to both the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad and the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2020-21 and 2021-22, was a 2020-21 Denison Top-50 Scholar Athlete, and was inducted into Denison's Chi Alpha Sigma chapter in 2021-22.

Madeleine Hunt has played in 48 games and started in 39 in her career, including nine starts in 11 games so far this season. Hunt has scored 24 goals in her career, including eight game-winning goals, and has recorded four assists. As a senior this season, she now leads the NCAC with 10 goals scored and five game-winning goals. In her junior season in 2021, Hunt led the Big Red with seven goals, four assists, 18 points and three defensive saves, and was named second-team all-conference.
 

With the win, Denison improved to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, all while remaining undefeated at home at 6-0 and improving to 5-0 all-time against Allegheny since the two teams began playing in 2019. Allegheny, meanwhile, saw its six-game winning streak come to an end as the Gators fell for only the second time so far this season (10-2, 1-1). With 10 victories in 2022, Allegheny has tied its entire win total from its first two varsity seasons combined.

Next up, Denison will host the College of Wooster next Saturday, October 15, beginning at 11 a.m. inside Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.