Despite Outcome, Wooster Keeps No. 6 Denison Relatively in Check Offensively

While the final score from Wednesday's contest indicates a 12-5 loss for The College of Wooster men's lacrosse team at sixth-ranked Denison University, the Fighting Scots kept the Big Red's attack relatively in check, as Denison scored its fewest goals in a North Coast Athletic Conference game since also having a dozen at Ohio Wesleyan University on April 16, 2017.

Wooster (8-5, 4-2 NCAC) allowed three goals in each period, and for Denison the three first-period goals are tied for the fifth-fewest scored in the opening 15 minutes by the Big Red this season. Wooster had a fine effort from sophomore goalkeeper Wesley Wagner, who recorded five of his game-high 15 saves in the opening period to keep the Scots within striking distance.

First-year Shaun Peirce put Wooster on the board with :03 left before the halftime buzzer. The goal marked the rookie's 26th of the year.

In the third period, senior Sam Kuhn finished his team-leading 36th goal at the 6:40 mark, and the Scots were playing their best stretch of the game at that point as sophomore Luke Liljenstolpe followed up with his ninth marker in the scoring column this year just over 30 second later. In fact, a goal by senior Alexander Bloom near the 10-minute mark of the fourth period made it a 3-0 run for the Scots.

Defensively, Wooster settled in for the second half after allowing three goals over the first 2:18 of the third period. In fact, Wooster's defensive leaders – senior Jack Gilio and junior Ethan Scully jump-started the Scots between the Black and Gold's two third-period goals. Gilio caused a turnover right after Denison's Henry DeCamp secured possession on the faceoff, and Scully quickly maneuvered in to scoop up the groundball.

Junior Joe Altieri rounded out the goal scorers for the Scots.

Three Scots logged a pair of groundballs in the contest, including first-year Matt Natelli.

Brooks Davy led Denison's offense with four goals and an assist, while DeCamp won 18 faceoffs.

Next, Wooster travels to Springfield, Ohio for a 1 p.m. tilt at Wittenberg University (4-8, 2-4 NCAC) on Saturday, April 14.