Coderre's goal lifts Denison to win over Centre

Freshman Angela Coderre's goal in the 44th minute combined with an impressive performance by the defense lifted the 19th-ranked Denison women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Centre College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on Saturday in Westerville, Ohio.

The Big Red dominated the opening half with a 7-0 advantage in shots which included multiple scoring opportunities. At the 33:12 mark, junior Julie Dean unloaded a shot on goal that was corralled by Centre goalkeeper Rosie McAuley. With just under nine minutes left in the half, Dean tipped the ball away from a challenging McAuley but pushed her shot just wide of the goal mouth.

Denison finally broke the scoreless tie at 43:15 when Coderre buried the loose ball into the back of the net. The first-year's second goal of the season was set up off a corner kick by junior Anna Rusch and gave DU a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

The Big Red carried the first-half momentum into the second period. The Denison offense had two solid chances to add an insurance goal in the second half. With 24:14 left in regulation, junior Laura Kuehn ripped a shot that deflected off the hands of McAuley bounced off the post and came right back to the Centre goalie. Roughly a minute later Dean took a centering pass and rung it off the pipe. Dean led the DU attack with seven of the squad's 14 shots, including a game-high three shots on goal.

The Denison defense played an outstanding 90 minutes. The Big Red backline surrendered just two shots to the Colonels and shutdown a late Centre rally that could have tied the match.

DU attempted eight corner kicks compared to none by the Colonels. Junior goalkeeper Courtney Cobb made two stops for Denison while McAuley ended the match with six saves.