The Case Western Reserve University defense helped make an 11th-minute goal from first-year midfielder Sean Wilson stand up for the remainder of the match, as the 25th-ranked Spartans defeated Denison University 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at DiSanto Field.

The Spartans will head into the start of University Athletic Association play next weekend with a 6-1-1 overall record following Saturday's victory. Denison, which received votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll and entered Saturday's contest undefeated, dropped to 6-1-1 with the loss.

Wilson scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal at the 10:57 mark in the contest. Senior midfielder Matt Vatne drew a foul that set up a free kick in the middle of the field and approximately 40 yards away from the goal. Senior defender Alex Lippiatt took the ensuing kick, sending the ball inside the 18-yard box, where Wilson connected on a header from eight yards away from the net, rocketing a shot toward the upper far post and out of the reach of the Big Red keeper for the score.

It was the second goal of the season for Wilson and Lippiatt's third assist of the year and his second in as many games.

From there, the story was the CWRU defense, which held the Big Red to just five shots for the game and only two attempts on goal. The best chance for a goal for Denison came in the 43rd minute when a free kick by Ben Goeller hit off the crossbar, and a shot attempt off the rebound was saved by sophomore keeper Bradley Winter.

The shutout was the fifth through eight games this season for the Spartan defense. Winter played all 90 minutes and recorded a pair of saves to notch his fourth individual shutout of the campaign. He improved to 6-1-1 for the campaign and lowered his goals against average to 0.51.

The Spartans totaled 10 shots in the game, including five on goal. Sophomore McLaren Baggett came off the bench to lead all CWRU players with three shots, while senior midfielders Jacob Salmon and Ryan Doughty each had a team-high two shots on goal.

Saturday's game also marked the return of former CWRU head coach Brandon Bianco to DiSanto Field, his first game back at the stadium since leaving to join the Denison program in 2020.

CWRU will now turn its attention towards its final seven games of the regular season, all of which are conference matchups. The Spartans will begin UAA play next weekend, traveling to face New York University on Saturday, September 30 in Newark, New Jersey. The match is slated for a 1:30 p.m. start.