LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior midfielder John Peterson (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) scored in the 89th minute to cap the No. 1 Washington and Lee men's soccer team's 3-1 win over Lynchburg on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win for W&L (8-0-1, 2-0-0 ODAC) marks their eighth consecutive victory, which is tied for the fifth longest winning streak in program history and longest such stretch since 2018. The Hornets fall to 5-4-1 overall and 1-1 in the ODAC with the loss.
 
With the Generals leading by a 2-1 score late in the game, junior midfielder Michael Kutsanzira (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe/Putnam Science Academy (Conn.)) slid to poke a pass through the Lynchburg defense towards Peterson. After dribbling into the right side of the box, Peterson fired a shot past the keeper to put the game out of reach with just under two minutes to play.
 
W&L led by a 2-0 score to open the second half, but the Hornets cut into the lead in the 55th minute on a goal by junior forward Luke Mega on an assist from sophomore midfielder Manzi Shalita. The Generals were then forced to play the final 33:39 down a man after a red card was shown in the 57th minute. However, the W&L defense allowed just one shot on goal during that final stretch, an attempt in the 81st minute that was heading for the top-left corner of the goal, before junior goalkeeper Rye McMillen (Fairfax, Va./The Heights School) punched the ball out of bounds to preserve the one-goal lead.
 
First-year midfielder Weyimi Agbeyegbe (Atlanta, Ga./The Westminster Schools) opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the game, scoring on a through ball inside the box from sophomore midfielder Grant McCarty (Dallas, Texas/Parish Episcopal). Junior defender Tyler Smith (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephens & St. Agnes) doubled the lead in the 43rd minute when he got a shot off from the penalty spot that scored to the bottom-left corner of the net.
 
Agbeyegbe's and Smith's scores were both players' second goals of the season, while Peterson netted his fifth goal of the season, tied for the team lead. McCarty's assist was his first of the year, while Kutsanzira tallied his team- and ODAC-leading sixth helper of the campaign. McMillen (1-0) earned the win after he came off the bench in the 10th minute and made a career-high four saves over the final 80:40. Senior keeper Michael Nyc (Kildeer, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) made one stop over the first 9:20 before exiting following a foul in the box.
 
Mega led the Hornets' offense with three shots, while Shalita took one shot. Senior goalkeeper Justin Ennis played the entirety of the game and made six saves.
 
W&L claimed a 16-11 shot advantage in the contest, including an 11-3 edge in the first half. The Hornets took four corner kicks and conceded two.
 
The Generals will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Ferrum for their first road ODAC game of the season. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.