Granville, Ohio- The No. 23 Denison University women's lacrosse team stunned the No.22 University of Chicago Maroons, after beating UChicago 11-2 in its home opener. The Big Red improves to 2-2 on the season, while the Maroons drop to 3-2.

In its fifth matchup against the University of Chicago in the last four years, the Denison Big Red entered the game tied 2-2 in the programs head-to-head series, looking for revenge after a heartbreaking 16-14 loss to the Maroons last spring. This time with home field advantage the Big Red despite a slow start quickly showed dominance in its definitive victory over UChicago.

Denison would open the game with a goal by Sophie Davenport after she gathered a pass by Caroline Brooks in the 12th minute of play. Though the Big Red scored just one goal in the first quarter, Denison's defense was solid on its defensive end, giving up just five shots and forcing four turnovers across the quarter.

In the second quarter things started to click for the Big Red, with Mary Martinson tacking on another goal with 11 minutes left in the half followed by back-to-back goals by Brooks to go up 4-0 with under three minutes before the half. Unwilling to go down easily, the Maroons took advantage of a turnover by Denison and off a fast break towards net Peyton McGuire collected a pass from her teammate Jill Hooey to cut the Big Red's lead to three. 

Knowing that their opponents would take advantage of a slower second half start, the Denison Big Red came out of halftime craving to put in more goals. It took 48 seconds for the Big Red's Brooks to complete a hat trick, giving back the goal cushion it had just before the half. Denison would dominate in the third quarter scoring five goals and breaking up two of Chicago's free position shots, keeping the Maroons scoreless to start the second half.

With one more quarter left in regulation,, Denison didn't let up, scoring two more goals to initiate the running clock rule. Then, UChicago's Sora Choi scored the Maroons' second goal of the afternoon to stop the running clock. Unfortunately, UChicago couldn't catch a break against the Big Red. 

In goal for Denison was sophomore goalkeeper Julianne Henigan who single-handedly shut down the Maroons offense tallying 16 saves for the day, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. University of Chicago's goalkeeper Rachel Keefe finished the day with six saves.

Brooks led the team with four goals and one assist, followed by Sophie Davenport who put in three more goals and also had an assist. Rounding out the scoring for the Big Red were Martinson and Anna DeVuono, who each scored two goals. Bridget Sheehy had two assists for the day, and plucked three draw controls from the air. Defensively, Mary Daniel and Liz Hinton each tallied three caused turnovers

Though the Maroons' outshot us 34-28 and were tied with Denison in draw controls, the Big Red's ability to take control of the game early and maintain its composure in a highly anticipated matchup proved to be the right combination for their success over a top 25 team.

Up Next
The Big Red have an off week and then hit the road on Wednesday, March 12, to take on Capital University at 7 p.m.