By Neil Riley

Sports Editor

Denison’s offensive attack wasted no time warming up on Senior Day against DePauw.  Within 40 seconds of the opening whistle, the first shot of the game had already been struck by Keara Kilbane ‘16. 

Only two minutes later, Logan Berlet ‘16 smashed a corner to the center box. A DePauw defender headed the ball away right to the feet of Kilbane who blasted a shot past the goalie for the first goal of the match.

The first few minutes of the game set the tone for the rest of the match and Kilbane was proud of the squad’s ability to rebound after a tough 1-0 loss against Kenyon.

“Our team was so excited about yesterday’s game because we played to our potential and really got back on track to where we want to be at this point in the season,” the forward said.  “It was a huge win for us and the fact that it was senior day was just icing on the cake.”

Though the Tigers managed to knock a shot past goalie Jenny Herold ‘18 in the 43rd minute, the Big Red tightened their defense and crunched down on the DePauw offense.

Denison controlled the second half. Jacquie Graham ‘17 knocked in two goals in the 49th and 61st minutes, the former of which was assisted by Kilbane. Graham leads the team with eight goals on the season.

Kilbane credited the players around her for the team’s success against DePauw and felt that Denison executed the coaches’ game plan well.

“Good offense stems from great defense so we wanted to really pick up our pressure from all points of the field,” Kilbane said.  “Also, we wanted to play with width, keep our shape and attack from the flanks. There’s always room to improve, but we got the W and +2 points from goal differential, so I would say overall, it was a success.”

Senior Day for Denison ended in a 3-1 victory. The result pushed the Big Red to 13-2 overall in the campaign and 5-1 in conference play.

The squad has been successful this season against NCAC rivals and responded admirably to the difficult loss against the Kenyon Ladies. Only two opponents remain to be faced in the 2015 campaign: Wittenberg and Oberlin.

Time will tell if DU is able to end their season on a high note. The team returns to action on today in Springfield, Ohio against Wittenberg.