GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 18, 2023) – The No. 18 Denison University men's lacrosse team hosted the second-ranked team in NCAA Division III, Gettysburg College, on Saturday, and in the end, it was a great day for the Big Red as Denison came out on top by a final score of 10-9 inside Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

Jack Hines scored the first goal of the game just over four minutes in before three straight goals by Gettysburg. In all, the Bullets led 4-2 after the first quarter after outshooting the Big Red 8-4, forcing Denison into nine turnovers and limiting the Big Red to 2-for-6 on clears in the opening period.

In the second quarter, however, the Big Red netted the only two goals of the period with tallies by Nate Kay halfway through and then followed by a goal by Luke Fisher just before the final minute to tie it at 4-4 at halftime.

Denison came out of the gates in the second half with a goal by Clyde Bresnahan a minute and a half in to set the pace before the Bullets tied it with a goal just before the five-minute mark in the period.

Tied 5-5 in the final five minutes of the third quarter, Denison began to click offensively as Fisher scored with four and half minutes left in the period on the assist by Reid Edelstein, who then scored on the assist by Quinn O'Donnell to make to a two-goal lead (7-5) with just over one minute left in the quarter.

Denison kept its foot on the gas pedal as Fisher added another goal in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter before assisting on another goal by Bresnahan in the first minute of the fourth quarter to make it 9-5 Big Red.

The Big Red outshot the Bullets 13-6 in the third quarter, but Gettysburg was not finished yet and began its comeback attempt, scoring three straight again and getting to within one (9-8) after a goal with 5:40 left to play.

From there, a pair of saves by Archer Darrach kept the Bullets from finding the equalizer and helped set up what would go on to be the winning goal by Ethan Tyack, assisted by Fisher, with just under two minutes left to play.

The Bullets scored with exactly one minute left to get to within one again, but then with possession and the clock ticking down to under 30 seconds, a blocked shot on an the attempt by Gettysburg followed by a costly turnover gave the ball back to the Big Red with only nine seconds left, and then a long pass downfield allowed the clock to run out.

Gettysburg outshot Denison 12-6 in the fourth quarter, but Darrach made five of his 15 saves in the final period to help seal the win. Darrach also finished with a .625 save percentage and had eight groundballs.

Fisher finished with three goals, three assists and four groundballs for Denison while on faceoffs, Grant Larson was 13-for-17 with nine groundballs and Colin MacLean was 5-for-6 with four groundballs. Brooks Crowley led the Big Red with three caused turnovers to help aid the Denison defensive effort.

With the big win, Denison improves to 4-1 on the season while Gettysburg suffers its first loss at 4-1. Earlier this season on February 25, the Bullets defeated the then No. 1-ranked team in the country, Salisbury University, by a score of 12-10.

It was the first win against a top-10 nationally-ranked opponent for the Big Red since a 16-12 win over No. 9 Nazareth on March 19, 2016, in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Saturday was also the start of a four-game homestand for Denison, and it was the first matchup between Denison and Gettysburg (4-1) since back-to-back wins for the Bullets over the Big Red in the NCAA Tournament in both 2008 and 2009.

Next up, Denison will host Grove City College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22. The Wolverines defeated the Big Red 14-10 at Grove City during the regular season last year before Denison earned the 14-13 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.