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The Case Western Reserve University defense turned in a dominating effort on Saturday night as the Spartans opened their 2023 campaign with a 14-0 win over Thiel College under the lights in Greenville, Pennsylvania.
CWRU improved to 1-0 on the campaign and 1-0 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play, as the Spartans claimed their 18th win in their last 20 season-opening games. Thiel dropped to 0-1, both overall and in league play.
The shutout was the first for the CWRU defense since the 2021 campaign, when the Spartans defeated Bethany 53-0 on October 16. CWRU held the Tomcats to just 190 yards of total offense, including just 55 rushing yards. The Spartans forced a pair of turnovers in the game - a fumble recovered by graduate student defensive back D.J. Wolf in the second quarter that the Spartans' offense converted into a touchdown, and a third-quarter interception by junior defensive back Dominic Sais.
Senior defensive lineman Kaden Tong added a monster day, sacking the Thiel quarterback three times and totaling a team-high nine tackles (five solo) and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Meanwhile, the Spartans' offense provided enough support to lift the team to its season-opening win. Sophomore wide receiver Alec Angello put CWRU on the board with 2:58 left in the opening quarter, catching a five-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Ian Kipp, capping off an eight-play, 80-yard CWRU drive with the first score of his career. Kipp added a 46-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Noah Coyne on third-and-11 with 3:55 remaining in the first half to give CWRU a 14-0 advantage.
Kipp finished the game eight-for-15 with 150 yards and two touchdowns, while also leading the Spartans with 51 rushing yards. Senior wide receiver Riley Knurek caught four passes for 46 yards, while Angello added three catches for 26 yards, and Coyne totaled a pair of catches for a team-high 61 yards.
The Spartans totaled 330 yards of offense in the game, including 200 passing and 130 on the ground.
The Spartans will be off next week for their bye before returning to action on Saturday, September 16 for their home-opening game against Grove City College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at DiSanto Field in Cleveland.