LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 4 Washington and Lee men's soccer team found its groove late in the first half and never looked back in a 4-0 win over ODAC foe Lynchburg on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The win propels the Generals to 10-1-2 overall this season, with a 4-0 mark in the conference, while the Hornets drop to 4-4-5 overall and 1-1-2 in the ODAC. With the win, the Generals also extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games, marking the second straight season with a 10-game unbeaten run or better.
 
Both teams battled hard throughout the first half, but the Generals' offense started rolling in the 40th minute when first-year midfielder Samuel Bass (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) put W&L on the board with his fourth goal of the season. Just 20 seconds later, sophomore midfielder Connor Wharton (Littleton, Colo./Colorado Academy) intercepted a pass from a Lynchburg defender and scored on a breakaway chance to give the Generals a 2-0 lead before halftime.
 
In the 49th minute, a Lynchburg foul in the box led to a W&L penalty kick. Sophomore defender Seth Chapman (Williamston, Mich./Fowlerville) stepped up and buried a shot into the low-left corner of the frame for his second goal of the season.
 
The Generals capped the scoring for the game in the 82nd minute when junior midfielder Danny Tran (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) found first-year midfielder John Peterson (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) inside the box for a score from close range, Peterson's fourth goal of the year.
 
Peterson and senior defender Oliver Dolberg (Clovis, Calif./Floyd B. Buchanan) led the Generals' offense with three shots each, while nine other players all shot at least once to contribute to 19 team shots and 10 on goal. Dolberg and Chapman also led a W&L defensive unit that yielded just five Lynchburg shots and none on goal.
 
Lynchburg senior forward Robert Dunham finished with two of the five shots for the Hornets, while three other players shot once each.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Nyc (Kildeer, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) was not required to make a save in 90 minutes of action to preserve the clean sheet. With the shutout, Nyc tied the program record of eight shutouts in a season, a mark he also reached a year ago. Nyc is now up to 16 shutouts in his career, tied with Gillen Beck '18 and E.J. Murphy '00 for the fourth most in school history.
 
Lynchburg junior keeper Kyle Gallagher played all 90 minutes in net as well and made six saves.
 
After not earning any corner kicks and conceding three in the first half, W&L rebounded in the second half with a 6-1 advantage over Lynchburg.
 
The Generals will get back on the pitch on Saturday when they travel to Virginia Wesleyan for a 7:00 pm ODAC showdown.