Denison 16, Ohio Wesleyan 12

May 3, 2008

Junior attacker Nick Gallagher (Columbus/Dublin Scioto) had a goal and an assist as Ohio Wesleyan took a 4-2 lead after the first quarter, but Denison outscored the Bishops, 7-0, during the second period and went on to defeat Ohio Wesleyan in a North Coast Athletic Conference championship showdown on Saturday in Granville.

With the win, Denison clinched the NCAC championship. Ohio Wesleyan finished in a second-place tie with Kenyon in the final standings.

Denison took a 1-0 lead on Teddy Epstein's goal 30 seconds into the game, but Ohio Wesleyan answered with goals by sophomore attacker Rob Young (Langhorne, Pa./Council Rock South) and Gallagher for a 2-1 advantage.

Brady Burton tied the game for Denison, but again the Bishops responded with a pair of scores, with Gallagher finding senior attacker Harrison Iuliano (Mendham, N.J./Blair Academy) for one and sophomore midfielder Kevin McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) recording the other.

Denison pulled to within 4-3 on Burton's goal early in the second quarter, then the Big Red registered 3 straight man-up goals in a span of less than 3 minutes to take the lead for good. Burton added 2 more goals in the quarter to give Denison a 9-4 lead at halftime.

Iuliano, Gallagher and Young scored to rally the Bishops to within 10-7 midway through the third quarter, and Ohio Wesleyan was still as close as 12-9 after sophomore midfielder Craig Aronoff (Potomac, Md./The Bullis School) and senior midfielder Steve Fowler (Wilton, Conn.) scored early in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as the Bishops would come.

Gallagher led the Bishops with 5 goals and an assist, while Iuliano finished with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Senior Ryan Perone (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep) had 5 saves during the first half and freshman Jud Hall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) had 4 saves during the second half for Ohio Wesleyan.

Burton led the Big Red with 8 goals and an assist. Alex Baruch had 14 saves in the Big Red goal.

Box Score