Men's Lacrosse
Men's Lacrosse: Denison to host Widener in NCAA Tournament
Date: May 04, 2008
Location: GRANVILLE
Matt McGinnis and his Denison Big Red will be making their 16th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament when they host Widener on Wednesday. DU is riding a 10-game winning streak.
Denison University will take their 10-game winning streak into the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament where they will host Widener University on Wednesday (May 7) at 2 p.m. This is a rematch of last season's first round game that was won by Widener, 8-5, in Granville.
This is Denison's fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and their 16th in school history. Widener is making their seventh trip to the Division III Championship.
The Big Red is 13-2 overall and has not lost a game since March 16 when they suffered a 6-3 loss to top-ranked Salisbury. Denison's only two losses this season have come to the nation's two, top-ranked teams (No. 1 Salisbury and then No. 2 Gettysburg).
Denison ran the table in the North Coast Athletic Conference and capped off their 10th conference championship with a 16-12 victory over Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday in Granville. Sophomore attack Brady Burton (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) scored eight goals and had one assist against the Battling Bishops. He is the team's top scoring threat, checking in with 48 goals. He needs just five goals to reach the 100 career goal milestone.
Senior middie Rick Mackessy (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) is the team leader in points with 58. Mackessy has 34 assists and 24 goals on the year. His 34 helpers are the most by a Denison player since 2000.
Goalie Alex Baruch (Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's) is the nation's leader in goals against average and save percentage. He has stopped 71 percent of would-be goals in 2008 and has made 54 career starts for the Big Red.
The team has won 65 percent of the face-off's taken this season and have outscored their opponents 229-77. Denison is just nine goals shy of breaking the school's single-season scoring record set with an 18-game schedule in 1984.
The winner of the Denison-Widener opening round contest will travel to Gettysburg for a second-round clash with the No. 3 ranked Bullets on Saturday (May 10). That time is also to be determined.