LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 18 and second-seeded Washington and Lee women's soccer team set a new program record with its 19th straight game without a loss to start the season on Tuesday, in defeating seventh-seeded Roanoke by a 2-0 score in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament.
The Generals improve to 14-0-5 overall with the win, as their 19 games without a loss this season surpassed the 2006 team that started 16-0-2 before dropping its first contest of the year. W&L is also now just one game away from tying the program's longest overall undefeated run, set by a 16-0-4 stretch in 2002.
The game remained scoreless through nearly 20 minutes of play, with each team tallying three shots before the opening score. That goal came at 19:47 when a cross from first-year midfielder
Bryn Bissinger (Greenville, S.C. / St. Joseph's Catholic) was mishandled in the box by the Roanoke (9-10) keeper. First-year midfielder
Sarah Zimmerman (Cincinnati, Ohio / Cincinnati Country Day), who ran in to make a play on the cross, was right there to corral the loose ball, and she finished on an open net.
In the 64th minute, sophomore defender
Emily Sansbury (Cornelius, N.C. / Christ the King Catholic) made a run into the box from the left side. She tried a cross, but the ball was cleared back outside of the 18. Junior defender
Cameron Grainger (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Country Day) then settled under the ball from 20 yards out, tapped the ball forward and unleashed a left-footed strike past the diving keeper and into the top-left corner of the goal, doubling the W&L lead.
W&L junior keeper
Sydney Smith (Damascus, Md. / Damascus) (14-0-5) remained active throughout the game, and she finished the night with a career-high eight saves to record her ODAC-best ninth shutout of the season. Her nine clean sheets this year are tied with Addy Healy '16 (2013) and Kate Stimeling '93 (1990) for the fifth most in a single season in program history, and it also marks the most in a season since Healy logged 11 in 2014.
Zimmerman's goal was her fourth of the season, while Grainger scored her third. Nine different Generals took a shot on the night, with Zimmerman and four other players tying for the team high with two attempts each.
Roanoke was led on offense by Eliza Ryan, who attempted a game-high three shots and put all of them on goal. Cameron Shackford finished with two attempts and one on goal, and four other Maroons tallied one shot and one attempt on goal each. In net, Carrington Lippi (9-10) played all 90 minutes and she made three saves.
Shot totals slightly favored W&L, 6-5, after the first half, but the Generals pulled away with an 8-4 margin in the second half to finish with a final advantage of 14-9. The Blue and White also claimed five corner kicks, including four in the second half, and allowed just two.
The Generals advance to the ODAC Semifinals for the fourth consecutive season, and they will take on third-seeded Virginia Wesleyan on Watt Field in Lexington on Friday. The time of the game is yet to be determined.
