DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre men's lacrosse defeated 14th-ranked Denison, 12-11, in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Saturday inside Farris Stadium.
 
The win is the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, coming in the team's third appearance.
 
The Colonels improve to 12-1 overall and have won 10 straight games, sending the Big Red home with an 8-2 record.
 
Wills McCutcheon led a brilliant defensive effort that saw the Colonels hold the nation's highest-scoring offense to nearly half their typical output this season.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre's first two possessions resulted in goals, with Drew Greenblatt and Duncan MacDonald hitting the back of the net to help the hosts take an early 2-1 lead.
- Later in the period, with the score tied 2-2, Padraic Dermody skipped in a shot to regain the lead for Centre.
- The Colonels claimed momentum in the second quarter, helped in part by Will Hubbs goals barely 10 seconds apart that gave Centre a 5-2 edge and forced a Denison timeout.
- Defensively, Centre caused havoc in the battle for possession. Ridr Knowlton capitalized on one Denison turnover midway through the quarter, scooping a ground ball and quickly scoring.
- Chase Poplin scored minutes later off an assist from Dermody, leading to a 7-3 halftime advantage.
- Poplin opened the third quarter scoring with a man-up goal, followed soon after by the first of the day from Nic Malubay.
- Malubay slipped past his defender and converted an acrobatic goal later in the quarter, and Hubbs delivered a highlight score of his own on the following possession to push the Colonels' lead to 11-5 heading to the final period.
- Although down by six, the nationally-ranked Big Red made a late push back into contention by out-scoring the Colonels 6-1 in the fourth. Jack Shannon's unassisted goal with 10:11 remaining was the final score for Centre, proving to be the game-winner.
- Denison had possession and a chance to tie with under a minute to play, but a late shot from Luke Fisher was saved by McCutcheon and Shannon was able to run the clock out.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- McCutcheon had 14 saves for the Colonels, including six in the fourth quarter. Entering the Tournament, Denison led the nation in scoring average at 21.5 goals per game while Centre had the sixth-best scoring defense.
- Dylan Croft won 16 of 26 faceoffs and led the team with 10 ground balls.
- Hubbs' hat trick was his eighth of the season, and with two assists he totaled five points for the eighth time, as well.
 
UP NEXT
Centre is in the NCAA Second Round for the first time ever, taking on No. 16 Colorado College, which defeated Transylvania by a 20-12 score in Saturday's First Round game. Faceoff Sunday is scheduled for 2 p.m.