Box Score
Denison 11, Ohio Wesleyan 8

Senior attacker Colin Short (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) scored to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 7-6 late in the third quarter, but 14th-ranked Denison countered with the next 3 goals and went on to defeat Ohio Wesleyan in a showdown for first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference on Wednesday at Selby Stadium.

Both teams entered the game with 5-0 records in conference play, with the winner of the contest likely to be the No. 1 seed in the inaugural NCAC tournament next week.

Denison drew first blood on Teddy Powell's goal at the 11:05 mark of the first quarter, then increased its lead to 2-0 on Nick Caravana's man-up score with 3:24 remaining.

The Bishops got on the scoreboard on a goal by senior midfielder Pat Bassett (Naperville, Ill./North) early in the second quarter

The Big Red erupted for 3 goals in a span of less than 2 minutes to take a 5-1 lead.  Powell scored with 3:50 remaining in the half, then Eddie Vita scored on Justin DeMarchi's pass from the right wing to the goal mouth with 2:53 remaining.  Vita added a man-up goal at the 1:55 mark.

Ohio Wesleyan fought back with a score by junior midfielder Spencer Schnell (Dublin/Jerome) with just :03 on the clock, and the Bishops opened the second half with a goal from sophomore midfielder Kyle Foster (Medfield, Mass./Avon Old Farms (Conn.)) to pull within 5-3. 

Short's goal at the 10:03 mark of the third quarter countered a goal by Denison's Chapin Speidel, and when sophomore attacker John Umbach (Montclair, N.J.) followed with a man-up goal with 9:24 left, the Bishops had pulled to within 6-5.

Short's second goal of the game also countered a Speidel score and brought the Bishops within 7-6 with 2:56 remaining in the third period.

Vita tallied his third goal of the game at the 1:13 mark to push the Big Red lead to 8-6, and Tyler King and Speidel scored a pair of goals 21 seconds apart to extend the margin to 10-6 midway through the fourth quarter.

Ohio Wesleyan had one more run, getting scores from senior midfielder Scotty Rosenthal (Boylston, Mass./Worcester Academy) and Short, the latter coming with 3:20 left in regulation and bringing the Bishops within 10-8, but Denison put the game out of reach on Blair Farinholt's goal during the final minute.

Short led the Bishops with 3 goals and an assist.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan McMahon (Springfield, Va./The Bullis School) went the distance in the Bishop crease, finishing with 11 saves.

Vita and Speidel each finished with 3 goals and an assist for Denison.  Chris Thomas recorded 4 saves in the Big Red goal.

Box Score