Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College women's lacrosse team suffered its first North Coast Athletic Conference blemish of the season as the reigning NCAC Champion Denison University Big Red invaded the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex and left town with a 17-8 win.
 
Hayley Drapkin had an assist and matched teammates Tess Siciliano and Eliza Amber with two goals apiece in the setback.
 
The Yeowomen struggled with possession throughout the 60 minutes as the Big Red's pestering defense held Oberlin to just 16-of-31 on clears while forcing 27 Yeowomen turnovers along the way. OC also lost the draw control battle, 19-7.
 
Oberlin stayed within striking distance throughout the first as back-to-back finishes from Siciliano and Kyra Aviles had the deficit down to 5-4 with 11:43 left to play in the half. Amber's second tally of the game and 13^th of the season later shrunk the Big Red margin down to 6-5 but the visitors would score the final two goals of the session to carry an 8-5 cushion into the intermission.
 
The Big Red would use the momentum from the end of the first half and carry that over to start the second stanza as they broke the game open with five goals within the first 8:30 of action to balloon the lead out to 13-5.
 
Drapkin, who scored the game's first goal, cashed her second of the game and 15^th of the season to finally halt the 7-0 Denison scoring spurt. First-year Juliet Mooney followed with her sixth goal of the season to make it 13-7 and Siciliano's team-leding 20^th tally later made it 14-8 but the deficit was too much to overcome for the Yeowomen.
 
Denison had a 50-25 advantage in shots, including a 38-16 differential in shots on goal. The Big Red also won the ground ball battle 22-16.
 
Siena Marcelle went the distance in goal and made 21 saves to run her season total 105. It was her fourth double-digit save performance of the season.
 
Oberlin, which fell back to 3-6 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC, is back in action on Saturday at the College of Wooster. The opening draw is set for 1 p.m.