SEWANEE, Tenn. – The Washington and Lee men's soccer team opened its 2009 season with a 2-1 loss to Birmingham Southern at the Kyle Rote, Jr. Invitational, hosted by Sewanee on Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham Southern (3-0) got on the board first when Tyler Evans scored the only goal of the first half off an assist from Nicholas Reitmeier at the 20:13 mark. The Panthers then assumed a 2-0 lead in the 57th minute when Evans recorded his second goal of the match off an assist from Andrew Shelton.

W&L (0-1) would respond with a goal of their own in the 69th minute, an unassisted marker from junior forward James Pymm (Smithtown, N.Y./St. Anthony's).

W&L junior goalkeepers Ben Bartlett (Towson, Md./McDonough) and William Dorrance (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) each played 45 minutes, allowing one goal apiece. Bartlett recorded one save. Birmingham Southern goalkeeper Sachar Hovan played all 90 minutes in the net, allowing one goal.

The Generals return to action Sunday as they face host Sewanee in their second game of the Kyle Rote, Jr. Invitational. Opening kickoff is slated for 2:00 pm.

AGATE
Scoring:
BSC – Tyler Evans (Nicholas Reitmeier) – 20:13
BSC – Tyler Evans (Andrew Shelton) – 56:19
W&L – James Pymm (unassisted) – 68:24

Goalkeeping:
W&L – Ben Bartlett – 45:00, 1 GA, 1 save, William Dorrance – 45:00, 1 GA, 0 saves
BSC – Sachar Hovan – 90:00, 1 GA, 0 saves

Team Stats:
W&L – 2 shots, 0 corner kicks, 1 save, 16 fouls, 1 yellow card (Drew Crowley, 9:07)
BSC – 10 shots, 6 corner kicks, 0 saves, 23 fouls, 2 yellow cards (Tyler Evans, 48:00, Nicholas Reitmeier, 65:34)

--GENERALS--