CLERMONT, Fla.--  Eight first half goals propelled the Denison University women's lacrosse to a 13-8 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Wednesday afternoon at the National Training Center.

Denison jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play thanks to goals by Leah Israel, Reid Hirschey,Claire Ludlow, Kiely Noonan and Claudia Rafi.

After a pair of goals by RPI made it a 5-3 game, The Big Red closed out the first half by scoring three of the next four goals to take an 8-3 lead into the intermission.  In the first half, Denison outshot RPI, 19-10 and was 3-of-4 on free-position shots.

In the second half, RPI's Sophie Hager scored her second goal of the contest to open the period, but that would be as close as they would get to the Big Red.  Denison responded with four goals over a 14-minute stretch to open up a 12-4 lead.

Israel led Denison with three goals on five shot attempts.  Hirschey finished with two goals and one assist while Ludlow scored twice and added two draw controls.  Rafi paced the team with two assists while also scoring a goal and causing two turnovers.

Hannah Magarian posted nine saves in the cage for Denison.  She played 57 minutes to earn the win.  RPI's Aleena Milinski posted seven saves while playing all 60 minutes.  They were led in scoring by Hager (3 goals, 1 assist) and Allie Claroni (3 goals).

Denison (4-1) is back in action on Friday, March 17 when they square off against Rowan at (9am) at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. The Engineers visit Middlebury on Tuesday (5pm).