LYNCHBURG, Va. – The 18th-ranked Washington and Lee women's soccer team extended its undefeated streak to 17 games, as it left Lynchburg with a scoreless draw on Wednesday night against the Hornets.
With the result, the Generals are now 12-0-5 overall and 7-0-2 in the ODAC, while the Hornets move to 8-3-6 overall and 6-1-2 in conference play. At 17 straight games unbeaten to start the season, W&L ties the second longest undefeated run to start a season in program history. They have also tied the third longest single-season unbeaten streak in program history.
For the eighth time this season, junior goalkeeper
Sydney Smith (Damascus, Md. / Damascus) (12-0-5) kept an opponent off the scoreboard. Her eight clean sheets this season lead the ODAC, and she stopped four shots in the game to produce the shutout.
The Hornets controlled the offensive chances for a large portion of the first half, and they finished the opening frame with a 7-2 advantage in total shots. Three W&L saves were made in the first half, including a defensive stop from first-year
Bryn Bissinger (Greenville, S.C. / St. Joseph's Catholic) in the 29th minute to keep the game scoreless.
W&L turned things around in the second half, taking eight shots and putting five on goal. The Generals turned up the pressure even more in the 78th minute, when they got six shots off in a span of just seven minutes, including four on goal. However, Lynchburg keeper Jade Lecklider was there for the stop on each occasion, including one save just inside the right post in the bottom corner, coming off a shot from Bissinger in the 78th minute.
Bissinger led all W&L players with three shots on the night, while first-year midfielder
Sarah Zimmerman (Cincinnati, Ohio / Cincinnati Country Day) and senior forward
Lindsay White (Greenville, S.C. / JL Mann) each took two shots and put one on goal.
Smith's four saves boost her season save percentage to .800, and lowered her goals-against average for the season to 0.58. Smith is also just one shutout away from moving into a tie for the fifth-most clean sheets in a season in program history. Her eight shutouts this season are the most in a single-season since
Grace Coombs '22 had eight in 2019.
Lynchburg's Emily Santana led all players with four shots on the night, and she put one attempt on goal. Sophie Walsh attempted three shots with one on goal, and Claire Lloyd, Alyssa Damato and Mac Joly each tried three shots. Lecklider finished the night with five saves to produce the shutout.
The Hornets came away with an 18-10 advantage in total shots after an 11-8 margin in the second half. Both teams finished with five shots on goal, and Lynchburg earned nine corner kicks and conceded six.
The Generals will wrap up the regular season in their next contest, a 1:00 pm home kick-off against Ferrum, with Senior Day festivities taking place prior to opening kick.
