Fredonia held off a comeback bid by Denison for a 10-7 women's lacrosse win Sunday afternoon at University Stadium.
Sophomore midfielder Audrey Yokopovich (Webster/Webster Thomas) and freshman midfielder Jade Williams (Tully/Lafayette) each had three goals while junior midfielder Kristie Kleine (Cazenovia/Cazenovia) had a goal and two assists for the Blue Devils.
Sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Burrows (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) made seven saves and a team-high five groundballs.
The Blue Devils, tied for No. 19 in the latest IWLCA NCAA Division III rankings, improved to 1-2 while the Big Red fell to 1-2.
The game was a rematch of last year's NCAA First Round game, won by the Blue Devils.
Denison's Leah Israel opened the scoring 1:13 into the first half. The Blue Devils responded with five straight goals -- two by Williams and one each by Yokopovich, Kleine, and freshman midfielder Monica Van Donsel (Cortland/Cortland).
Denison closed out the first half with momentum on its side. Goals by Reid Hirschey and Carol Allen, the latter just ahead of the horn, sent the teams into halftime with Fredonia up 5-3. After a goal by Hirschey cut the margin to 5-4, the Big Red had a chance to tie, yet Burrows made a point-blank save. Freshman midfielder Samantha Spiess (Fairport/Penfield) scored on a free-position shot to push the Fredonia lead back out to two goals. Denison twice got back within one goal, but never pulled even.
Fredonia senior defender Lauren Metz (Williamsville, N.Y./Lancaster) was credited with three groundballs.
Sunday's game time temperature was 36 degrees under sunny skies. The Blue Devils will play in warmer weather next time out, a March 18 meeting with Rowan at Clermont, Fla.
