NORTH BETHESDA, Md. -- Eighth-ranked Denison improved to 7-0 following a 9-6 victory against Dickinson College on Saturday. The Red Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the contest, but the Big Red responded with a 4-0 run powered by goals from Chapin Speidel, James Meager, and a pair from Luke Walsh.
Leading, 4-2 with 12:10 to play in the second quarter, the two teams would go on an eight minute scoring drought. Dickinson broke the stalemate with 3:38 to play in the second when Chris Menard scored his sixth goal of the season.
DU would strike again with 1:25 to play in the first half when Speidel found Meager for his 10th goal of the season, lifting the Big Red to a 5-3 advantage at the half.
In the third quarter, Dickinson outscored Denison 2-1, after a man-up goal by Brian Gleason with 17 second left in the period. That goal pulled the Red Devils back to within one goal at 6-5.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Eddie Vita got on the board for the second time, off another pass from Meager. The Red Devils would respond quickly. After Carter Moore won the face-off, Gleason would score 17 seconds later after a quick feed from Mike Cherry, making the score 7-6 in favor of the Big Red.
Over six minutes would run off the clock. After a timeout by Denison with 6:22 to play, Walsh gave his team some breathing room with his 17th goal of the season with 5:03 to play.
Denison's Austin Campbell would secure the ground ball on the ensuing face-off, and with 3:21 remaining, Vita scored his third goal of the contest while lifting his squad to a 3-goal lead with 3:21 to play. The pivotal face-off would be won by DU and the Big Red successfully ran out the clock, extending its winning streak to seven.
Vita led the Denison scoring attack with three goals and two assists while attempting seven shots. Walsh notched a hat-trick while taking only four shots, and Meager posted two goals and two assists. The DU scoring was rounded out by Max Burge and Speidel who had one goal and one assist, apiece. Ben Hearn and Matt Neeson led Denison with six ground balls, while Campbell, Neeson, and Drew Newman all contributed two caused turnovers.
Chris Thomas recorded seven saves while playing 60 minutes in goal and facing 19 shots. Denison outshot Dickinson 34-19, but was edged on face-off's 10-9.
The Red Devils were led by Gleason's three goals. Tyler Llewellyn added two scores, and Nick Baxter recorded nine saves.
At 7-0, Denison is off to its best start to a season since the 2012 team started the year 9-0.
