Women's Soccer 08-09

Senior co-captain Molly Ruano led the Denison defense to their fourth straight shutout and sixth consecutive victory on Wednesday.

The stingy Denison defense showed their teeth and senior Sarah Ash (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) sent the crowd home happy in the 75th minute as the 13th ranked Big Red women's soccer team rolled to a 1-0 victory over Earlham College on Wednesday afternoon at Barclay-Thomsen Field.

The Quakers entered the match boasting the top scoring offense in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 3.58 goals per game.  The tandem of Karman Duchon and Hillary Carter combined for 30 of the team's 43 goals and are ranked 1-2 among the NCAC goal leaders.

The Denison defense wasted little time letting Earlham know they were up to the challenge.  The back line of Haley Gewehr (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck), Molly Ruano (South Euclid, Ohio/Brush), Jen Sloan (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends) and Kate Henderson (Denver, Colo./George Washington) kept Earlham's scoring opportunities at a minimum as the Quakers took just two shots (both of which were in the first half) and had only one corner kick.

After a first half shot by Kim Oshita (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) clanged off the crossbar and a early second half rocket from Ash was turned away once again by the crossbar, it was beginning to look like overtime would be a distinct possibility.

That all changed on Denison's 19th shot of the game when forward Julie Dean (Liberty Township, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) threaded a pass directly to the right foot of Ash who sent the first touch to the upper right corner of the goal.  The goal was Ash's seventh of the season.

The Big Red outshot the Quakers 24-2 and won the corner kick battle, 9-1.  Courtney Cobb (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) did not face a shot on goal but picked up her sixth shutout of the season while lowering her goals against average to 0.58.

The victory pushed Denison's winning streak to six and ran their consecutive shutout streak to four matches.  Their overall record improves to 10-2-1 and they sit in first place in the NCAC at 4-0.  The Big Red will return to action on Saturday when they host Wisconsin-La Crosse at 1 p.m.