GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 29, 2024) – Coming off a big 20-10 win at home over Kenyon College in its first North Coast Athletic Conference game of the season last time out, the Denison University men's lacrosse team was unable to capitalize on its momentum against the York College of Pennsylvania on Friday and came up short by just one goal, 10-9, inside Kienzle-Hylbert Stadium.

It was also a matchup between two of the top-three teams in the receiving votes section of the latest USILA/Blatant Division III Coaches Poll.

York led 3-0 in the first six minutes of the game before a 4-0 run for Denison, which scored the final two goals of the first quarter by Nick Vance (4:27) and Luke Fisher (0:21) and scored the first two goals of the second quarter by Collin Murphy (8:35) and Fisher (7:41) to take a 4-3 lead.

In addition to the scoring run, the Big Red defense also kept York off the scoreboard for a nearly 20-minute span.

Michael Cassidy added two goals in the second quarter to help give the Big Red a 6-5 advantage at halftime, and then the lead switched hands twice in the third quarter before the two teams headed into the final period tied at 8-8.

The first two goals of the fourth quarter, however, went to the Spartans, who kept Denison from scoring for over 21 minutes before a great goal by a falling Tommy Quinson made it 10-9 with 2:43 left to play.

From there, York won the ensuing faceoff, but after a turnover gave the Big Red a chance with one minute left, Quinson's shot to try and tie it with 48 seconds left was saved by Nash Womack.

In the final 30 seconds, the desperate Denison defense was able to pry the ball loose as a caused turnover by Owen Holder led to a ground ball by AJ Boxler with 22 seconds left, giving Denison one last chance to find the equalizer, but Cassidy's shot in the final seconds ended with final save of the night by Womack.

All in all, it was a great day for the goalies as Womack finished with 12 saves and a .571 save percentage while for Denison, Andrew Albert registered a career-high 16 saves to go along with a .615 save percentage.

Despite doubling up the Spartans in shot attempts (14-7) in the final period, Denison was only able to score once in the fourth quarter and was outshot by six (42-36) for the game after York outshot the Big Red 16-6 in the third quarter.

Albert made nine of his 16 saves in the third quarter to help keep it a tie game heading into the fourth quarter, but in the end, the Spartans held the Big Red to just one goal in the final 24 minutes while York scored three times during that span to clinch the win.

Both teams finished with 22 turnovers and 13 caused turnovers. Holder and Charlie Haight both finished with three caused turnovers for the Big Red while Brent Blackmon, the reigning MAC Commonwealth Defenseman of the Year, led the Spartans with three caused turnovers as well.

Clear attempts were also eerily similar as York finished 22-for-28 while the Big Red were 22-for-29.

Offensively, Fisher finished with three goals and one assist for Denison while Will Harnick, the reigning MAC Commonwealth Attackman of the Year, led the day for the Spartans with a season-high of five goals.

Grant Larson finished 9-for-17 on faceoffs for the Big Red while Vinny Facciponti, the reigning MAC Commonwealth Specialist of the Year, was 11-for-20 for York.

With the loss, Denison fell back to below .500 on the season at 4-5 while York improved to 3-6 and snapped its five-game losing streak. All but one game so far this season for the Spartans has come against teams that are either nationally-ranked or are receiving votes in the national poll, including a 16-15 victory over No. 7 Washington and Lee University and a narrow 11-10 defeat against No. 2 RIT. In fact, York's 2024 schedule features eight of the top-20 teams that were ranked in the USILA Preseason Poll.

Next up, Denison will head to Transylvania University for its final nonconference game of the regular season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3.