GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 5, 2023) – The first home game of the 2023 season for the No. 16 Denison University men's lacrosse team saw the Big Red come up short by a final score of 12-9 against the No. 10 nationally-ranked team in NCAA Division III, Washington and Lee University, on Sunday inside Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

It was a battle between two undefeated teams ranked in the USILA/Dynamic Men's Coaches Division III Poll, and it certainly lived up to the hype as Denison (2-1 overall) outsourced Washington & Lee (4-0) 7-1 in the second quarter to take an 8-4 lead into halftime.

In that second quarter, it was the second goal of the game by Luke Fisher that tied it at 4-4 before back-to-back goals by Ethan Tyack gave Denison a 6-4 lead. Then in the final two and a half minutes of the second quarter, Nate Kay and Jack Hines both scored to cap the 5-0 Big Red run.

However, the Generals turned up the defense in the second half and shut out Denison in the third quarter. W&L outshot the Big Red 13-4 in the third quarter, and then in the fourth quarter, the Generals tied it and then ultimately took a two-point lead (10-8) with three goals in the first three-plus minutes of the period.

Fisher recorded his third goal with just under 10 minutes left in the game to get Denison to within one at 10-9, but W&L scored again less than a minute and 30 seconds later to make it 11-9.

From there, Denison had only two shots on goal the rest of the way and struggled to get off good shot attempts against the smothering Generals' defense.

After Tyack's shot was saved in the final three minutes, Quinn O'Donnell missed high with two minutes left and Hines missed wide 30 seconds later.

In the final 30 seconds, Charlie Walsh's shot was saved by the Generals' goalkeeper, Warren Seeds, to clinch the win for W&L.

In goal for the Big Red, Archer Darrach finished with 15 saves and a .556 save percentage.

In the end, it was an 8-1 advantage in the second half for Washington and Lee to take the victory after the 7-1 second quarter for Denison.

Next up for the Big Red is a neutral-site matchup during Spring Break against St. Mary's College of Maryland at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, at Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland.