OWINGS MILLS, Md. (March 18, 2022) – The No. 18 Denison University men's lacrosse team participated in the first game of the Mustang Classic hosted by Stevenson University, and in the end, the Big Red battled tough but fell by just one goal, 13-12, against No. 7 nationally-ranked the University of Lynchburg on Friday. It was the very first game of a tournament that will feature five games on both Friday and Saturday and has 10 different teams represented.

After falling behind 7-4 in the second quarter, Denison (3-2 overall) closed out the first half strong thanks to back-to-back goals in the final minute by Nate Kay and Luke Fisher.

Then less than a minute into the second half, Will Kenney scored to tie it at 7-7.

Starting just over two and a half minutes later, Kay struck twice to put Denison up 9-7 with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter, and then Jack Chace scored with 5:28 left in the period to make it a 6-0 Big Red run.

Lynchburg (5-1) committed five turnovers during the run for Denison and did not have a shot attempt for over 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, Lynchburg went on a 6-0 run of its own and scored the first five goals of the fourth quarter to take control.

Just like the did last weekend on the same field, the Big Red tried to make a last comeback push and got to within one as Ethan Tyack scored with 2:50 left and Gavin Pappas scored with 1:27 to go.

Then after the ensuing faceoff was won by Lynchburg, Brooks Crowley caused a turnover to get Denison one last opportunity, but the shot by Fisher in the final moments was saved by the Hornets' goalkeeper.

Both teams finished with 27 shots on goal and were within two total shots, two faceoff wins, one groundball, one clear and one save from each other on the stat sheet.

Kay led the Big Red with three goals and one assist while Camden Bowdy had one goal and three assists.

Davis Cronin had six of his eight groundballs in the first half and was 15-for-26 on faceoffs while Crowley had four groundballs and five caused turnovers.

Goalkeeper TJ Spahn tied his season-high with 14 saves.

Day two from the Mustang Classic will see Denison take on a third straight nationally-ranked opponent, this time in the form of No. 11 Dickinson College in the second-to-last game of the tournament at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 19.