GRANVILLE, Ohio — Denison field hockey remains undefeated in conference play after a huge second-half offensive swing, beating the Wittenberg Tigers 12-1 Saturday. Sophomore Lulu Keil earned a spot in the record books; her two assists brought her season total to 14, breaking the program's single-season assist record (12, Elsie Humes, 2015). The Big Red improves to 9-2 for the season and 5-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play, while the Tigers drop to 5-6 and 3-1 in league play.
Lulu Keil put Denison ahead early, scoring the Big Red's first goal just 23 seconds into the game off an assist from Maggie Lamb. Wittenberg pushed back with two penalty corners and three shots over the next four minutes, but Therese Lucian stopped a scramble in front of the goal, and Avery Painter added a defensive save to keep the Tigers scoreless. Reilly Desmond put in the Big Red's second goal of the game after collecting a pass from Keil at 5:46.
In the first minute of the second quarter, Wittenberg found its best chance of the day off a penalty corner to cut the Big Red's lead to 2-1. Keil answered for the Big Red minutes later, pushing the lead to 3-1 and holding on despite an onslaught of five penalty corners over the final 3:10 to go into halftime.
Following halftime, the Big Red turned up the offensive heat, with Desmond scoring off a Keil assist, to give Denison a three-goal lead. Lamb and Gebhart added back-to-back goals less than a minute apart to make it 6-1 with over 12 minutes left in the quarter. Denison earned its first penalty corner of the game in the third quarter, which eventually led to Gebhart finding the back of Wittenberg's cage after collecting a pass from Caroline Struzziero. First-year Sienna Seyferth would later find Smith for goal number eight, putting the Big Red up 8-1 at the end of the third quarter.
Annie Luongo opened the fourth-quarter scoring for the Big Red just a minute in, pushing the lead to 9-1. Smith scored her second goal with just over seven minutes left in regulation, and Keil added goal 11 four minutes later. Abigail Hyatt added the final goal with three minutes left, bringing Denison's total to 12, a season high.
The Big Red put up 25 shots on goal against the Tigers' 11, and Denison also held a 19-to-11 shots-on-goal advantage over Wittenberg. Despite the goal differential, the Tigers did hold an 8-3 edge in penalty corners. Therese Lucian recorded seven saves as the Big Red held Wittenberg to one goal.
Big Red Highlights
Annie Luongo and Abigail Hyatt scored their first goals of the season and their first as Big Reds.
Keil broke the program's single-season assist record, with 14 assists so far this season.
Desmond, Gebhart, and Smith each scored two goals on the day, with Keil leading the team in goals with three.
Up next for the Big Red
Denison field hockey team travels to Gambier, Ohio, to face Kenyon College on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Field at Benson Bowl.
