GAMBIER, Ohio (April 1, 2023) – The No. 12 nationally-ranked Denison University men's lacrosse team led the game by five goals in the third quarter, but Kenyon College came all the way back to tie it and then erased a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to earn a 14-13 win over the Big Red in the final minute.

Back-to-back goals by Ethan Tyack and Luke Fisher gave the Big Red a 5-2 lead early in the second quarter before taking a 7-5 advantage into halftime.

Jack Hines snuck an early second-half goal past the first-year Kenyon goalkeeper, Adam Hall, and then after four saves by Hall to help the Owls keep their deficit at three, Fisher broke through with his third goal of the game to make it 9-5 with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Fisher then drew the attention of the Kenyon defense and kept his eyes up before finding Nate Kay for a goal to double up the Owls at 10-5 with under six minutes left in the third period.

However, Kenyon was able to take advantage of a two-minute, non-releasable cross-check penalty on the Big Red to score three times in a row and make it 10-8 with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Owls then kept their momentum going and began to out-scrap the Big Red as after a save by Archer Darrach, Kenyon's Rollins Heath outfought Denison for the ball and scored it to make it just a one-score game (10-9) in the final minute and a half of the third quarter.

Fortunately for Denison, after Kenyon took advantage of a Big Red turnover and Rollins dished the assist on a goal to tie the game in the final minute of the third quarter, a caused turnover and groundball by Brooks Crowley led to a goal by Hines to put the Big Red back in front (11-10) heading into the fourth quarter.

Clyde Bresnahan found the back of the net on a long shot four minutes into the final period, and then five minutes later, Tyack blew past his defender and scored past Hall to make it 13-10 Big Red.

Kenyon, however, would not go away and scored twice in 40 seconds to make it a one-goal game again (13-12) in the final five minutes.

In the final minute and a half, Darrach came up with another save, but Kenyon outhustled the Big Red to keep possession, and it paid off as Heath scored to again tie the game with 1:12 remaining.

The ensuing faceoff was won by Denison's Grant Larson, but a turnover gave the ball back to the Owls with one minute remaining.

Darrach made his 14th and final save in the final 30 seconds, but as the Big Red tried to move the ball downfield, the play was broken up David Chintala deep in Denison territory, and Chintala quickly capitalized on the opportunity to score what would be the winning goal for the Owls with 22 seconds left.

Larson again won the next faceoff to try and give Denison a final chance, but a shot from Tyack in the final six seconds resulted in Hall's 16th save of the game to finish it off.

Larson finished 18-for-25 on faceoffs with 13 groundballs and behind Fisher's three goals were Hines, Bresnahan, Tyack and Kay each with two.

Heath finished with four goals and two assists for the Owls while Chintala had three goals, including the game-winner.

With its first loss against the Owls in their last 19 matchups, Denison falls to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. It was also the first loss in conference action for the Big Red since March 31, 2021. Kenyon, meanwhile, which started its season a perfect 7-0 before dropping its conference opener at home vs. Ohio Wesleyan University last Saturday, improved to 8-1 and 1-1.

Next up, Denison will head to the College of Wooster on Wednesday, April 5, as the Big Red and the Fighting Scots square off starting at 8 p.m. at Wooster High School. Wooster is receiving votes in the latest USILA/Dynamic Coaches Division III Poll with a perfect 11-0 record.